Ripple Effect
by jan 2.0
Summary: /Slash/ Dumbledore goes to the Preventers and Une for help. Seeing a chance to gather intel she strikes a deal with him: she gets to educate an agent who has magic and in exchange the agent helps guard the castle. It seemed like a no-brainer to Une.
1. Chapter 1

**Ripple Effect**

**Disclaimer**: I don't own _Gundam Wing_ or _Harry Potter_.

**Warnings**: None yet, maybe some language.

**AN:** I know, I shouldn't start another fiction but this one just got stuck in my head and I had to write it down. I'm posting mostly to get feedback; I've already started writing the second chapter. I wasn't going to post but I'd like to get opinions but don't worry, IMO is still my main priority. :D

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><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

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><p>Relena Peececraft was <em>not<em> amused.

Currently said Vice Foreign Minister **[1]** was sitting in her office waiting on a client who was not only late, but insistent that she _had_ to see him _immediately_ causing her to shift around her schedule and piss off a few _very_ important diplomats. To say she was not amused was an understatement.

Relena puffed out a breath, making her bangs flutter on the momentary breeze. She leaned back in her chair and gazed at her ceiling, wishing she'd just given this job to someone else, someone more qualified to deal with all this nonsense. She'd acknowledged the idiocy of her 'Heero worshiping' faze and had apologized to all the pilots but she couldn't undue the trust the people had somehow developed in her. Unfortunately that meant that she was now needed to help instill confidence in the new government and keep the fragile peace they'd all worked so hard for. She didn't mind the work she just knew that there were many more qualified people out there who deserved the job that had been basically handed to her on a silver platter.

"Minister?"

Relena instantly whipped out the gun she'd stuck to the underside of her desk and in one fluid motion clicked the safety off and leveled it at the speaker before her. Once she did, however, her arm wavered slightly, mostly due to shock. Before her stood an elderly gentlemen with a long white beard that neared his knees in length. What caused her pause was that this was the most _normal_ thing about him. He was dressed very oddly in red flannel pants and a bright orange button up shirt. He held up his hands in surrender and raised an eyebrow at her.

"My name is Albus Dumbledore and I believe I had an appointment…?" he stated bemusedly as if a loaded weapon wasn't aimed directly at his forehead.

"Ah yes, I must apologize Mr. Dumbledore but you quite startled me, I didn't hear you come in." Relena said in a rush, an embarrassed flush coloring her cheeks as she lowered her weapon and clicked on the safety. Heero had insisted she learn how to properly use a firearm and had purchased her the Beretta for the same reason. **[2]** "Please sit down, would you like some tea?"

"No, no that's quite alright though I must apologize for keeping you waiting so long Minister. Something came up and delayed me and I'm sorry if I've caused you any inconvenience with meeting on such short notice." Dumbledore said, sitting down. Relena shook her head.

"I must admit it was a bit of trouble but you said you had something urgent you needed to discuss with me…?" She raised a delicate eyebrow, sitting back down behind her desk and replacing the gun.

"Yes, I do. In light of the recent war and upheaval I haven't been able to properly introduce myself to you. Usually the previous Minister would have alerted you to our existence but it seems that duty must now fall to me." Dumbledore explained pleasantly. "My name, as you know, is Albus Dumbledore and I am the Headmaster of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Relena blinked. "Pardon me but did you just say _witchcraft_ and _wizardry_?" Dumbledore nodded, smiling as if this was the reaction he was expecting. Relena nodded and leaned over, holding down the button on her intercom. "Cynthia, contact Lady Une and send her to my office ASAP please."

"Yes ma'm." the secretaries voice crackled back and Relena released the button turning back to her guest. **[3]**

"I hope you don't mind but Lady Une will need to hear this as well."

"Not at all, I assumed I would need to meet with her as well, she is the head of the Preventers correct?" Dumbledore responded. Relena nodded.

Lady Une _glared_ at the agents gathered in her office. "You did _what_?" she hissed, fully prepared to throttle the braid totting lunatic smiling at her from behind his stoic partner.

"I swear it was an accident! I only meant to block the exit and prevent the terrorists from escaping! I didn't know the building was that shoddily built!" Duo pleaded, ducking behind Heero as a heavy paperweight whizzed by him crashing into the door behind him and shattering into a thousand little pieces.

Une sucked in a breath, fully prepared to lash Maxwell for once _again_ causing excessive property damage, when a knock sounded at the door behind the two agents. "Come in!" she yelled and waved the agents to stand aside. Cynthia, Relena's aid, carefully poked her head around the door.

"Ma'm the Minister needs you in her office ASAP." She said meekly, eyeing the dent in the door and mess on the floor left by the paperweight. Une actually _growled_ at the poor woman.

"Alright, Maxwell, Yuy, come with me I'm not letting you off that easy." She said, glaring at Duo who was still standing slightly behind Heero. Both nodded their understanding and filed out after her heading toward Relena's office. Months ago they had decided it was best to keep her office in the Preventer building so it would be easier to protect her if the need ever arose.

Relena, however, was currently staring gob smacked at Dumbledore as he happily demonstrated his _magic_ and levitated various objects in her office. "Seriously?" was the only intelligent response she could give. Before Dumbledore could reply her intercom came to life.

"Ma'm, Lady Une is here with Agents Yuy and Maxwell, shall I send them in?" Relena blinked and stared at her intercom for a moment before pressing down the answer button.

"Yes, yes send them in."

"Right away ma'm." Immediately after that there was a knock at her door and then, without waiting for a response, it swung open revealing a smiling Duo Maxwell.

"Heya' Lena what's-" Duo froze eyes glued to Dumbledore who was still hovering the items on Relena's desk with his wand. "-the fuck?"

"Language Maxwell!" Une snapped from behind him. He meekly stepped to the side to allow Heero and Une into the room. Both entered and immediately stared at the random objects floating about the office.

Smiling Dumbledore stood and gestured with his wand, shutting the door behind the newcomers. Instantly he was faced with three loaded firearms backed by very serious expressions.

"Stop!" Relena shouted quickly, not surprised at the rapid reflexes of her friends. "He means us no harm, please lower your weapons."

Surprisingly it was Heero who answered her. "He is not a threat?"

"No, no he's just… well he was about to explain it so please, hear him out." Relena rushed relieved when the agents nodded and holstered their weapons, though they still eyed Dumbledore uneasily.

"Alright, explain yourself Mr…?" Une said, sitting herself in the other chair next to Dumbledore's. Duo and Heero moved and stood behind her, watching the man cautiously.

"Ah yes, my name is Albus Dumbledore and, as I was just telling the Minister here, I am the Headmaster at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

There was a collective blink and a moment of silence before…

"Well, that explains everything." Duo deadpanned, sending the man an incredulous look. "You expect us to just accept something like magic at face value?" He snorted derisively.

"No of course not my good sir, I would be rather shocked if you did." Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling. Duo had a sneaking suspicion that meant trouble, and smirked to himself recognizing a fellow mischief-maker.

"That doesn't matter right now, what I want to know is why you're here right now. I doubt you came here just to attempt to shock and awe us with your _magic_." Une's voice almost hissed when she said the word, obviously not pleased to have to say it at all.

"Quite right ma'm, I am here to make the wizarding world known to the Minister," he nodded to Relena who gave him a tight smile, "and yourself, but there is another reason as well." He smiled brightly at her and she nodded, urging him to continue. "I've also been made aware of a small problem with our way of locating students. We normally have a book that lists down student's names when they are born and we send them letters at the age of eleven to join the school so we can teach them how to control their magic. Recently we found out that people born on the colonies are overlooked because they are out of reach of the spell."

"I see." Une said after taking a moment to process the information. "I understand this could be an issue, but what does it have to do with us?" She asked, gesturing to herself, the agents, and Relena. They all nodded, wondering the same thing.

"The reason I bring this to you is because of your organization's reach." He nodded to Une at this. "I need someone who can easily access personal records of people born on the colonies so that I can let our Ministry know and they can search out any people who may have innate magic."

"I see, that would include thousands of people. It would take years to sort all of those records, you realize this correct?" Une said raising an eyebrow at him as she tapped her chin in thought. "It would be doable, but the gathering of records alone would take a couple months. Plus I'm not sure if I'm convinced of the validity of this _school_ or these wizards." She narrowed her eyes as she came to the end of her statement and both agents teased behind her, understanding her silent message.

Dumbledore just smiled benignly. "Fear not Madame Une, I did not come here unprepared for such suspicions." He reached a hand into his robes and, for the third time today, was faced with guns trained on him. He just smiled. "I'm just getting some paperwork I brought with me to validate my claims." Une and Relena lowered their guns while both agents didn't even waver, Dumbledore slowly pulled out a manila folder and held it out for Une who took it after holstering her weapon and making sure the other two had as well.

"I see." Une said already pulling out the documents inside and setting them on the desk in front of her so that everyone in the office could see them.

Relena sighed and reached over and pushed the intercom button. "Cynthia, could you please bring us some refreshments?"

"Yes ma'm, right away." Cynthia's voice crackled back and Relena released the button and smiled at her guests.

"Duo, Heero, please sit down. I'm getting the feeling this is going to be a long meeting."

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><p>TBC…<p>

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><p><strong>[1]<strong> I'm not sure what Relena's actual title is after Endless Waltz, so this is a guess.

**[2]** Okay, I actually researched guns for this one sentence. Yeah, I'm that sad.

**[3]** Yes, it is an intercom. I think they might use vid-phones in Gundam Wing, but I can't remember so for the sake of this story the office building they're using uses intercoms instead. (holds up artistic license and smiles)

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> Okay, it's a start, more like a teaser really. It got in my head and I just HAD to write it. Now it's off to bed seeing at its 4 in the morning. . Why can't my muse work during the day? :grumbles darkly as she stumbles off to bed:

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><p><strong>Deadline<strong>: I'm going to put a tentative 1st week of December on here. IMO comes first but I'm working on both.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ripple Effect**

**Disclaimer**: I don't own _Gundam Wing_ or _Harry Potter_.

**Warning**: Language, it's Duo and my Duo has a mouth. And OOCnes s all around.

**AN**: Wow, just, wow. I actually grabbed my fiancé and dragged him over to my laptop to show off my inbox because of all the alerts and favorites this story has gotten already! Thank you to everyone it's so awesome to know so many people liked this story! :D And with no further ado I give you an extra long chapter two (the extra long is for Kitsune1818, I was afraid the first part was too much like a teaser… promise there's more in this one!).

Oh and I had two reviewers who didn't sign in so I can't respond, one of which asked a question. And honestly, I'm not sure where you mean (the tease or tense question), PM me with the line and I'll fix it or confirm it for you. That's really all I can say, FFnet won't allow us to respond to reviews in the story but I got them and, like all the others, I appreciate them even if it's just 'I liked this.'

**Chapter Dedication**: Kitsune1818 (I appreciate the criticism, it lets me know what I need to improve) and Noctisis Rrhagia (for such a cool name).

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><p><strong>Chapter Two<strong>

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><p>Duo was quietly cursing every deity he could think of as he followed Heero down the cold, foggy London streets. After much talking and explaining Une discovered Dumbledore's current security issues (something about some psycho trying to kill a student, repeatedly, and almost succeeding) and she had asked if she could send one of her agents to the school. In exchange she wanted the agent to learn about this 'magic.' She also relented into letting some select Ministry employees to access Preventer files under the supervision of select agents. Dumbledore had happily agreed and scanned the two agents in the room for magic and, of course, Duo had innate magic.<p>

This had lead to him having to explain to the other pilots exactly _what_ his new mission was. This had taken the better part of two hours because _no one_ believed him except Heero who had been too busy watching amusedly as Duo tried to out-shoot Wufei that yes, magic existed, and yes, he was apparently being assigned to learn at and guard one such school.

Now he was standing outside a dingy, run down pub titled the Leaky Cauldron where he was supposed to meet someone who would help him settle into his new security detail. Heero had come along to help him find the place and then he was off to his own mission that happened to be based a little outside of London.

"Are you sure this is the place?"

"Yes Duo, I double checked the directions. This is it."

There was a pause.

"You're positive?"

"Just go in." Heero responded, exasperated at Duo's doubt. Shooting Duo a look he shoved the boy in the direction of the pub and smirked. "Have fun, don't forget to report in or Quatre will come after you." Duo rolled his eyes and gave his usual partner a jaunty wave, a little disappointed he wasn't joining him. Out of all five pilots Duo was the only one with magic and Dumbledore only wanted people Une would trust with her life on this since the fact the magical community existed was only revealed to a select few. Unfortunately that meant this was going to be a solo mission.

Sighing Duo entered the pub. The rampant magic in the place made him pause; there was even a man in the corner stirring his cup of tea by moving his finger in small circles, the spoon in his cup following the motions as he read his paper. Duo snorted _'Yeah, these people are about as subtle as Relena was in her 'Heero chasing' days.'_ How they'd managed to hide themselves so long baffled him but he supposed there was a trick to it or something, magic and all. He shrugged and made his way over to the bar and sat down. The barkeep seemed distracted by another customer so Duo settled for surveying the crowd.

'_Who was I meeting again?'_ Duo wondered. He dug around in his pockets and pulled out a slip of paper. Apparently the man's name was 'Hagrid,' Dumbledore was sure that he'd know him when he saw him.

Duo glanced up at the door when it opened and stared. A large man bent and stepped into the pub, which looked even smaller in comparison. "I think I see him…" Duo muttered to himself, staring openly at the man. The stranger straightened up and after a quick scan of the place walked over to him, smiling brightly his black eyes twinkling behind his beard.

"Hello you must be the guy Dumbledore sent me ter fetch," he said, his voice a deep rumble. He extended a large hand. "My name's Rubeaus Hargrid and I'm t'e groundskeeper at Hogwarts."

Duo, ever quick to recover, sent the giant man a big smile in return and hopped off of his stool, absently noting he barely came up to the man's waist. It didn't surprise him though, the guy was huge and most of the pilots were short because of how they had lived their adolescence, Duo was the shortest though at a height of only 5'4". **[1]**

"Hello Hargrid, my name's Duo Maxwell, I may run and hide but I never tell a lie." **[2]** Duo said, grasping the giant hand and shaking it. He was a little surprised Hagrid didn't try to crush his hand, with his size he could probably do so very easily but he just shook it firmly, all smiles.

"So what now?" Duo asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Well Dumbledore said that yer gonna' be getting yer wand and then we'll floo up to Hogwarts." Hagrid said and gestured for him to follow as he turned and made his way to the back exit of the pub. Duo raised an eyebrow. _Wand?_ He was going to get a _wand_? He sighed, thanks to Dumbledore that wasn't the strangest thing that he'd heard lately so he fell into step behind the giant. Once they had entered the little back alley Hagrid made for the wall and pulled out a pink umbrella and tapped a sequence of bricks. Before Duo could ask him what exactly he was doing the wall opened up to reveal a street lined with odd shops and even odder dressed people.

"Well," Duo mumbled, "so much for 'blending in.'" Duo was dressed in casual clothes, jeans, a black shirt proclaiming 'I hear voices and they don't like you,' and a pair of running shoes So naturally he stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the wizards who were dressed in robes of varying colors. As they wandered down what Hagrid had dubbed 'Diagon Alley' Duo struggled not to stare at all the odds shops they passed.

"Alrigh' here we are!" Hagrid suddenly proclaimed, stopping short which almost made Duo plow into him. He'd been distracted by a store claiming to sell _flying_ broomsticks. As they walked into the shop simply called Ollivander's Duo scanned for threats, which is the only reason he saw Ollivander himself slinking toward them.

"Hello, aren't you a bit old for a first year?" the old man asked, eyeing him as he approached his blue eyes appraising.

"Ah well yer see Mr. Ollivander this is the guy the Headmaster told you abou.'" Hagrid explained, gesturing to him and causing Duo to duck the giant's arm or be cuffed by it. He rolled his eyes and stepped forward.

"My name's Duo Maxwell and I'm apparently here for a wand." Duo said holding out his hand. The old man shook it, smiling.

"I see, well I've never met anyone who'd missed getting their wand, this should prove to be an interesting challenge." Ollivander said whipping out a tape measure.

Ten minutes later the old man was regretting his words. Apparently Duo had been forced into using wandless magic to survive. He had thought his heightened abilities were side effects of his training like the other pilots but apparently not. Since he had gone so long without a wand and yet used magic he was more in tune with it and didn't really _need_ a wand. To say the wands reacted violently would be an understatement.

The first wand had actually just exploded when Duo tired to swish it. Ollivander had blinked owlishly and then hurried off. Duo hadn't had time to ask Hagrid if that was a normal reaction because the man had come rushing back with another wand which had actually combusted. Duo dropped it with a yelp and stomped out the fire looking back up at Ollivander sheepishly. "Sorry…?"

Ollivander shook his head and hurried off again, bringing more wands and each failed, some spectacularly and some simply refusing to work. Finally Ollivander stopped and sighed.

"Mr. Maxwell I'm afraid that your wand will have to be special ordered, though honestly you'll probably not need one given your natural ability to use wandless magic. Here, this will help you focus but it won't channel your magic." Ollivander handed Duo another wand and it looked exactly like all the others, seeing Duo's critical gaze Ollivander elaborated. "It doesn't have a core so it's basically a rather nice piece of wood." After nodding, paying, and thanking the shop keep they left the store.

Duo waited until they were almost back to the pub before asking the question that was bothering him. "Hagrid? It's not normal to be able to use wandless magic is it?" Hagird looked back and sighed.

"I don' think so, but tha' doesn't make ya' weird Duo, yer just better at it. Though it'll be harder to control without a wand, they're like Ollivander said, a focus fer yer magic." Hagrid responded, smiling reassuringly. "Dumbledore can explain it much better'n me, but I wouldn't worry too much abou' it." Duo smiled as they reached the wall.

Hagrid paused and looked back at Duo. "Do ya' want ter see if you can open it?" Duo's eyes lit up and he nodded. Hagrid showed him the combination and Duo repeated it, tapping each brick. Nothing happened. Annoyed Duo growled and tried again, but still nothing happened.

"Hmm…" Hagrid mumbled, rubbing his beard, "maybe there's a trick ter doing wandless magic… Guess I'll just let us through…" He whipped out his pink umbrella and tapped the bricks and the path opened.

Duo pouted. "So it'll open for an _umbrella_ but not for me? Stupid wall…"

Hagrid chuckled and headed back into the pub, Duo trailing behind him, muttering about stupid walls. Smiling Hagrid waved at Tom. "I'ma' be using yer floo Tom." The barkeep waved him on and went back to chatting up the lady he'd been talking to when Duo had first arrived. Reaching into his coat Hagrid pulled out a jar with powder inside.

"Alrigh' I know you've ne'er floo'd before. All ya' do is take a handful," he demonstrated, "toss it in the fire," he tossed his rather large handful into the flames and they surged up turning green, "step inter the flames, and clearly say where yer going, we're heading to Hogwarts." He held the jar out to Duo who hesitantly grabbed a handful and stared suspiciously at the green flames.

"And you're sure I'm not going to, say, catch on fire when I step in there?" Duo asked, still staring at the fire. Hagrid chuckled and without warning he pushed Duo into the fireplace. Duo stumbled and quickly caught himself and spun around, ready to yell at Hagrid before he realized he was standing in the green flames and felt nothing except warmth lapping at him. He marveled as he stood there holding out a hand and watching the fire wrap around it without burning him in the least. "Cool," he breathed, fascinated by the obviously magical fire.

Hagrid chuckled. "Sorry, couldn't resist, you shoulda' seen yer face. Go on now, toss down the powder and call out 'Hogwarts.' I'll be righ' behind you."

Duo nodded and threw down the powder, watching as the flames leapt up higher. "Hogwarts!" he called out clearly, not wanting to find out what happened if the magical fire or whatever misheard him. Suddenly he was spinning and it felt like he was falling. He could see glimpses of other houses through fireplace grates as they whipped by. He was finally forced to shut his eyes, afraid he might actually throw up at the rapidly spinning images. Suddenly he came to a stop and he stumbled out of the new fireplace, coughing slightly at the soot blinking around owlishly.

"Hello Agent Maxwell, it's nice to see you again."

Duo blinked and looked up, raising an eyebrow. "Hello AB," he replied, moving away from the fireplace since Hagrid said he would be right behind him, "you can just call me Duo, no need for such formalities." He gave him a lopsided grin as Hagrid stepped out of the fireplace behind him, brushing soot off of his clothes.

"Alright Duo, have a seat I dare say we have a great deal of things to discuss," Dumbledore said, gesturing to the two chairs before moving behind his desk to take a seat.

"Yeah, a fair few…" Duo responded distractedly. He'd just noticed the rest of the room he'd stumbled into. It was obviously Dumbledore's office, with the large desk and chairs, but what caught Duo's attention was all the _movement_. There were dozens of small, sliver instruments that whistled and whirled and even emitted little smoke rings. _'This room would send a kid with ADD into shock…'_ Duo mused, eyes wandering the room and trying to take it all in at a glance. Dumbledore just smiled kindly and watched Duo look about nodding to Hagrid when the half giant took a seat, smiling at the distracted boy.

"Oh, Headmaster Ollivander said that our young Duo here can use wandless magic so he couldn't give him a wand," Hagrid said looking to Dumbledore.

"I thought as much, with him living so long without a wand I'm surprised he hasn't been noticed before now with all the unexplainable happenings but then again the others from the colonies also haven't been noticed. Explosions aside the magic isn't usually very subtle," Dumbledore mused, nodding his head.

"Well there _were_ explosions and other stuff but it was a war, kinda' hard to figure out who did what," Duo commented idly finally looking back at Dumbledore and sitting down in the other chair. "Your office is full of neat stuff AB."

"Thank you Duo, in my long life I've come across many interesting things that I just can't seem to bring myself to throw away or box up. So Ollivander won't be able to make you a wand at all?" Dumbledore asked smiling and pulling out a little box of lemon drops. "Lemon drop?"

"Sure," Duo popped the offered candy in his mouth, he couldn't help the random thought as he did _'I just accepted candy from a complete stranger, pedo-vibe much?'_ and promptly choked on said candy as he laughed. Both other occupants of the room looked confused and slightly concerned.

"You alrigh' there Duo?" Hagrid asked, leaning and extending his arm as if he wanted to pat Duo on the back.

Duo, still laughing and coughing, batted the man's hand away and gasped out "I'm fine… just tried to inhale the candy… literally…" Dumbledore sent him a bemused look as Duo quickly composed himself, still coughing lightly. "Ah… and Ollivander said he could make me a special order one but that I didn't need one, he gave me this to help me focus." Duo pulled out the core-less wand and passed it to Dumbledore who 'hm'd' as he examined it.

"Well, in any case I have a decision for you to make Duo," Dumbledore said, passing the wand back, "since you're technically only a guard and not a real student you can choose whether you would like to be sorted and attend classes or, if you'd prefer, you could attend classes as an observer and learn it on your own."

"Well…" Duo titled his head, tapping his chin with his forefinger, "I'd rather be an observer so I can come and go as I please. That would make guarding this place a lot easier. I don't suppose you have a map or blueprints or something?"

"No, I'm sorry Duo but the castle is unplottable, which means there's a spell that makes mapping spells unusable." Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling as he thought of the only map of Hogwarts.

"Okay, I guess I get to have the grand tour then eh?" Duo said, raising an eyebrow at the twinkles return.

"Yes, of course but first we'll need to introduce you to the staff. School starts in two months, the students all arrive September 1st so I figured this will give you plenty of time to get used to the castle," Dumbledore said pleasantly then turned to Hagrid, "Could you go retrieve the heads of house for us?"

"Sure thin' Headmaster, it was nice meeting ya' Duo," Hagrid said, standing and patting Duo on the shoulder as he passed. Duo smiled back and winced, rubbing his shoulder as he watched Hagrid leave.

"Guy doesn't know his own strength," Duo muttered.

"Hagrid is actually teaching a class this semester as well," Dumbledore said blithesomely, "Care of Magical Creatures."

Duo had to smile at that. "That suits him he strikes me as an animal lover."

Dumbledore nodded. "Oh and Duo," Duo turned to look back at him, "I forgot to ask how old you are."

"My guess would be somewhere around fifteen, why?" Duo asked, eyes narrowing. He waited for the expected 'you're still a child' remark but Dumbledore just nodded.

"That would put you in either fourth or fifth year classes. You may not be able to catch up to your grade level by the start of term."

Duo shrugged. "No worries AB, I'll learn what I can and go on from there, you never know I might surprise you."

"True," Dumbledore said smiling at Duo's confidence, "wandless magic, once learned, is easier to use than normal magic. Though getting the hang of it will probably be a bit… difficult."

Before Duo could ask what Dumbledore meant by 'difficult' there was a knock at the door. "Wow, Hagrid works fast doesn't he?" Duo commented as Dumbledore called for the newcomers to enter.

First to enter was a tall woman with her graying hair pulled up into a tight bun, glasses perched on her nose, with a very no-nonsense teacher vibe coming off her. Behind her was a tall man with long, greasy black hair, sharp black eyes that immediately darted to Duo, he also had the same teacher aura about him. Behind him stepped a smiling woman with a witch hat placed crookedly on her head, a big smile on her face. And finally, the last person to enter was so short Duo almost missed him. Like the last lady he had a pleasant expression and he smiled at Duo when he caught his eye.

Both Dumbledore and Duo stood and Dumbledore gestured to each teacher in turn, introducing them. "This is Minerva McGonagall, our Transfiguration professor and head of Gryffindor. Severus Snape, our Potion's master and head of Slytherin. Ponoma Sprout, our Herbology professor and head of Hufflepuff. And finally Filius Flitwick, our Charms professor and head of Ravenclaw." Smiling at the professors he gestured to Duo. "And this, everyone, is Agent Duo Maxwell of the muggle Preventers, I believe I've already explained the situation to you all."

Duo blinked and turned to the man standing next to him. "Muggle?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, that's what wizards call people who don't have magic," Dumbledore explained, "You must excuse an old man's forgetfulness."

Duo waved his apology off. "It's alright AB, you just confused me," he looked back at the other professors, ignoring their varying reactions at his address of their boss. "Nice to meet you all."

McGonagall and Sprout looked shocked at such a show of disrespect whereas Snape had simply raised an eyebrow. Flitwhick didn't seem to mind and smiled right back, the first to return Duo's greeting.

"It's a pleasure Mr. Maxwell, Dumbledore told us all about you. I was shocked to find out there were people out there we hadn't detected and brought in for proper schooling," He said, extending a hand. Duo smiled brightly back, liking the man already.

"Ah don't worry about it, stealth is my specialty anyway. If I didn't want to be found, you won't find me," Duo responded, shaking the man's hand firmly. "Charms eh? That sounds interesting, though honestly all of your subjects sound pretty interesting to me, but I'm a pretty curious guy," Duo commented lightly, looking to the other professors. Sprout looked like she was glowing and Duo got the distinct impression not many found her class interesting. McGonagall still looked angry so he figured she was probably raring up for a lecture he would most likely _not_ want to hear.

"Well," Snape said, surprising the other professors, "at least you seem brighter than all the other muggles I've come across." And he was immediately receiving disapproving looks from pretty much everyone except Duo.

Duo smiled brightly, purple eyes mischievous as he replied. "Thanks, how do you get your hair to look so greasy?" Snape's eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to reply when Dumbledore cut him off.

"Well! It seems we've all been introduced! Who's hungry?" his eyes twinkled madly when Duo's stomach growled loudly in response. Duo blushed lightly.

"I am, apparently. So are we postponing the tour?" Duo asked, turning his head to glance back over his shoulder, his braid coming into view for the first time for the newly introduced professors. Both female professors had disapproving thoughts along the same line, neither thinking a boy needed such long hair. Snape glared and Flitwick just smiled, liking the rebellious boy already. In his mind anyone who stood up to Snape was a good kid and he obviously took care of his hair if the shiny, soft looking braid had anything to say about it.

"You'll get the first part of your tour, the route from my office to the Great Hall where we hold all our meals. After you," the last was directed at the female teachers who nodded and exited the room, followed by the other three while Duo brought up the rear giving the room one last once over before shutting the door behind him.

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><p>TBC…<p>

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><p><strong>[1]<strong> I'm pretty sure Duo is either 5'4" or 5'2" so I went for the taller, I'm not going to change it because if works for this story but if you know his actual height let me know.

**[2]** I couldn't resist. :P

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><p><strong>AN<strong>: Okay! I actually finished this chapter Oct. 3, but after reading reviews I decided to add more, give you guys a longer chapter. :D And yes, Heero saw the Leaky Cauldron, that was not a plot hole or a mistake, you'll find out about that later on. Oh and a note on the storyline: this takes place after Endless Waltz and during book four (Goblet of Fire) so Duo's fifteen (I think) and Harry and his friends are fourteen. I insinuated this in the chapter but its July, two months before school actually starts so the HP gang are not going to show up for a bit depending on time skips and such.

**Deadline**: I'm shooting for the end of November, just found out I get a whole week off for Thanksgiving. And please, when you review don't ask when I'm going to update, that's why I added this to the end of all my stories. It will probably be posted before the deadline but, barring unforeseen circumstances, it will not be late.


	3. Chapter 3

**Ripple Effect**

**Disclaimer**: I don't own _Harry Potter_ or _Gundam Wing_, I'm not that delusional.

**Warnings**: OOCness, language, and shonen-ai/slash (boy x boy).

**AN**: Ok, back by popular demand! Seriously though, thank you to all the peeps who sent in alerts, favorites, and reviews. I had a few more unsigned ones but please, please sign in. I like to respond and give hints and tidbits or just laugh with you. :D I added a bit more to the warnings, to those who don't know I write slash/shonen-ai, it's not going to be overpowering (I don't think) but it's there. I put slash in the summary because many people don't know what shonen-ai is and this WILL NOT be yaoi, because for one the ratings won't allow it (yaoi is sex, not cuddling and such) and I just don't know if I actually can write it. You got any questions feel free to PM or review.

**Chapter Dedication:** lensman37 (thanks, appreciated XD), Elspeth (thanks for not questioning me and I know, instant super powers? How boring!), and redrobin.

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><p><strong>Chapter Three<strong>

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><p>Duo was hard pressed not to gawk when they exited the spiral staircase and a nearby gargoyle statue actually came <em>alive<em>. It jumped up and slid over the opening, hiding it from view. He tried not to stare, really he did but his was starting to get a bit overwhelmed. His weird-shit-o'meter had already conked out on him days ago when he'd first met the crazy headmaster. **[1]**

"The password is Skittles, all you do is say it to the gargoyle and he'll let you in," Dumbledore said pleasantly, noticing what had caught Duo's attention. **[2]**

Duo glanced at Dumbledore and laughed. "Skittles? Finally a man after my own heart," Duo said, patting Dumbledore on the back as he walked over to the waiting teachers, "I also am a lover of Skittles."

Dumbledore smiled, the ever present twinkle lighting his eyes. "It is one of my favorite muggle candies, though I must confess I like the sour ones more than the original."

Duo laughed, keeping step with Dumbledore as they walked past the other teachers, all of which were shocked at the amount of familiarity this new person had with the headmaster. "I also enjoy the sour ones, have you tried the tropical blend? They're okay," Duo replied conversationally, glancing around as they wandered down the hallway. Near the end where it turned he stopped and turned back to the teachers and raised an eyebrow. "You folks coming or what?"

"Come along everyone or we'll miss lunch, they've already started," Dumbledore said, also turning to look back at the teachers who hurried to catch up with them. "The tropical blend is a bit odd but I liked them as well."

McGonagal smothered the little voice in the back of her head that pointed out that this new guy and the headmaster seemed _too_ alike. She was unwilling to even _think_ about what that would mean for the inhabitants of the castle…

Duo nodded, tapping his chin in thought. "I was wondering, do wizards have special candies? I remember that Diagonal place having a shop with sweets I didn't recognize."

"Diagon," Snape corrected snidely, looking at Duo down his nose as he caught up with the two men.

Duo smirked. "Right you are Sevvy, Diagon."

Dumbledore covered his mouth to hide his mirth at the look on Snape's face which contorted in a mix of emotions that made the man look constipated and infuriated at the same time. "Ah," Dumbledore coughed, catching Duo's attention and meeting the sparkling violet eyes, "we do indeed have our own types of sweets. I'll have to introduce you to Honeydukes in Hogsmeade, that's the village just south of the castle."

"Hogsmeade? I sense a theme with the naming of places around here," Duo said, following Dumbledore as he started leading them again. The old man was attempting to avoid the confrontation Duo would have with Snape once he recovered enough to speak. Dumbledore's plans, however, rarely worked out the way he wanted them to. Sure things worked out but they rarely ever went smoothly.

"How _dare_ you call me something so disrespectful?" Snape practically yelled, marching after them. He didn't have to go far since Duo stopped and turned to met him, all sunny smiles. However his narrowed eyes would've tipped off anyone who knew him that he was feeling anything but 'sunny.'

"Oh? And your insinuation that my intelligence is not up to par with your own is not disrespectful?" Duo countered easily, raising a delicate eyebrow as he faced the man down, somehow managing to look down his nose at the taller man. Before he could respond Duo continued his smile a bit wider. "I may not have been a wizard until two days ago but that doesn't make me any less intelligent or capable than any other person. I admit I probably know less about potions and wand waving than you do but I can _guarantee_ there are _many_ things that I am more proficient at than you are… Sevvy."

Dumbledore stepped between them, smiling brightly. "Now, now gentlemen, I'm sure we can settle this civilly…"

Snape's eyes lit up at the words and he sneered at Duo, stepping up to the shorter boy and attempting to use his height to intimidate him. Attempted because the look on Duo's face clearly said he was not, by any stretch, intimidated. "Certainly headmaster, I challenge Mr. Maxwell to a duel, should he win I will bow to his _superior_ intelligence."

"I accept," Duo said simply. "Do you mind if I use my inferior muggle weaponary?"

"Use whatever weapons you like," Snape sneered, too angry to wander what weapons he was talking about.

Dumbledore sighed, this wasn't going to be pretty but it was best to get all this nonsense out of the way before the students arrived, no need to have undue tension between a guard/observer and teacher. "Very well if you must, we should take this childishness outside." Dumbledore turned and quickly led the way out of the castle, the others trailing behind him as Duo matched his stride a contemplative look on his face. He was momentarily distracted when they entered the Entrance Hall, marveling at the vaulted ceiling and suits of armor that he _swore_ were following him as he walked past. They exited the castle and continued down to a clear space near a giant lake.

"Alright, please take your positions…" Dumbledore started but was interrupted by Duo flailing his arms at him.

"Whoa one sec AB, gotta' stretch. Don't wanna' pull a muscle do we?" Duo said, smiling benignly and immediately bending and doing various stretches. Dumbledore nodded, it was a valid point. Snape just sneered and watched Duo stretch and bend, producing a series of painful sounding pops that caused the boy to sigh and the observers to wince. Finally he straightened, rolling his shoulders to loosen them up. "Okay, ready whenever you are Sevvy-dearest."

Dumbledore didn't get the chance to call out the start of the duel as Snape immediately growled and sent an angry stunner at Duo. The other teachers gasped, Minerva even called out a warning shout.

All of this registered to Duo in the background as he smirked, the man was _slow _and his magic was traveling in a straight line. He easily crouched down and ran under the red streak of magic, careful not to touch it as he raced toward the shocked potion's master. In the span of a few seconds Duo was standing again directly in front of Snape, Snape's wand in one hand a knife he had hidden in his boot in the other pressed against the man's neck.

"I don't believe Albus gave the order to start Severus," Duo said in a dangerously silky voice, the knife glinting in his firm grasp as he starred the taller man down, his eyes narrowed to slits. "I do believe that was a _cheap shot_."

This was followed by a stunned silence. It was finally broken by Dumbledore clearing his throat, a smile on his face despite his employee's dangerous predicament. "I must agree, that was rather uncalled for. Duo, could you release Severus now?" Dumbledore asked, as if he was asking a student if he'd like a lemon drop in his office. Snape shot the man an incredulous look.

Duo surprised them all by looking to Dumbledore and nodding. "Of course Albus, I merely wanted to make a point and I believe I have." With that said he moved the knife away from the potion master's throat and held the man's wand out to him. Snape eyed the hand holding his wand warily, very aware that Duo was still griping the knife in his left hand though it had lowered to his side. The potion's master got the distinct impression Duo still considered him a treat and was still willing to act should he make any threatening movements.

Duo realized the man's train of thought and smirked. "You said anything goes," Duo said sweetly, tossing the knife end over end casually as he stretched out his other hand and tapped Snape on the chest with the wand. "Here, I'm not going to bite you if you take it back. What was that weird red light thingy anyway?"

"That was a stunner, it knockers whoever it hits unconscious," Dumbledore said, smiling as he watched the suspicious Snape take back his wand and back away from the younger man. He was starting to think this was going to be another eventful year… even by Hogwarts standards.

"Well, shall we continue this pointless duel or go grab some food? I'm starved myself," Duo asked, still tossing the knife idly as he addressed the still wary Snape. Narrowing his eyes Snape glared.

"You caught me off guard, it won't happen again," after saying this Snape gestured for Dumbledore to officially start the duel. Duo sighed, well he'd tried, he really was hungry but he supposed this was unavoidable.

Dumbledore held up his hand and, after glancing at both opponents, swished his wand down saying "Begin!"

Snape stood straighter, facing his opponent with his wand raised. He was slightly curious as he watched Duo turn his body and angle it away from Snape and bend his knees slightly. _'He's getting prepared to run,'_ Snape thought, narrowing his eyes and waiting for the other's first move.

Duo, meanwhile, had slipped into a simple defensive stance, relaxed yet ready to move when needed. He almost laughed when he realized the man intended to fight him like he was standing: his feet were planted and he was turned fully facing him! He'd never seen a worse fighting stance. _'Well, I guess a wizard duel is a bit different than a fist fight,'_ Duo thought, considering his options. As fun as running straight up to the man and punching him sounded, he knew he'd be prepared for such an attack. He needed to take a less direct path or go on the defensive, though it seemed Snape was waiting for him to act first. Duo quietly checked his arsenal: he still had his gun and ammo though he doubted he was using that in this fight, another knife tucked into his belt… Suddenly Duo smirked. _'I wonder if Sevvy has ever had the pleasure of seeing a smoke bomb…?'_ Decision made Duo slipped a smoke bomb into his right hand as he brushed it past the pack on his side. Flicking the pin out he waited a few seconds, watching Snape's eyes narrow as he watched him. Snape raised his wand as if to attack and Duo smirked. _'Again too slow,'_ he thought as he flung the smoke bomb hitting Snape square in the chest. The man paused and glanced down to examine the odd object only for it to explode and envelope him in a cloud of smoke. Duo didn't even try to hold in his laughter at the man's shocked face and angry shouts and coughs.

After a moment Snape regained his composure and cast a spell to disperse the smoke which revealed an empty expanse of lawn in front of him. He growled and glanced around, noticing that the spectators were all staring at something to his right. Swinging angrily he came face to face with a wand. He was actually shocked to see the familiar weapon in the boy's hands.

"Boo," Duo said, smirking at the livid expression on the man's face. Duo punched Snape on the inside of his elbow on his wand hand causing him to flinch and almost lose his grip on his wand. Eyes dancing with laughter Duo ducked under the punch the man threw at him and swatted him on the ass with his useless wand. Snape yelped and jerked away from Duo, swinging his wand around again to bear on him.

"You little-!" Snape yelled, cutting off as he saw Duo's braid trail behind him. Smirking the man decided on an action: he would later regret. Reaching out he grabbed hold of the rope of hair, tugging hard to try to off-balance the boy. He didn't expect the feral growl and sudden shock that shot through his fingers, he didn't have time to think on this though as something very solid collided hard with his temple and he knew no more.

Duo was _angry_. Snape had _dared_ to touch the braid! Without thinking he had immediately dropped his knife and pulled out his gun and pistol whipped the man jerking his hair out of his grip at the same time. Duo stood there for a moment and then crouched down to check the man's vitals to make sure he hadn't hit him _too_ hard. Immediately the other teachers took this as a cue to rush forward and check on their fallen comrade.

"Oh my god what is _that_? What did you _do_?" Sprout shouted, worry waging with fear as she starred at Duo's gun. Duo blinked back at her, _'she doesn't know what a gun is…?'_ Before he could really process that Dumbledore was in front of him, the twinkle slightly diminished.

"Is he all right? What exactly did you do Duo?" his voice was light but Duo could hear the edge to it and quickly raised his hands in a calming notion.

"Relax I just knocked him unconscious, he'll be fine scratch a headache," Duo said quickly, stowing away his gun and retrieving his discarded knife, wiping the blade on his pants to dry it before re-sheathing it.

"Well," Duo continued, turning to the varying expressions the teachers were shooting him. "Lunch?"

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><p>TBC…<p>

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><p><strong>[1]<strong> I've heard the weird-shit-o'meter somewhere before but I'm not sure… so if I stole this let me know and I'll totally credit you. .

**[2]** The Skittles password is totally a rip-off from another author, plus I LOVE Skittles. :3

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> 5 page chapter with action! I don't write action too often so this was fun, especially since I've got some experience in it. Oh and I tried hard not to make Sanpe seem too weak but I'm going off the assumption wizards aren't used to fighting without the magic, especially someone trained as heavily as Duo is.

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><p><strong>Deadline:<strong> December, first week or second. That's when school lets out for winter break. I'm not stopping work on this story but it'll be slow since I'm a bit behind on my online classes. Hopefully I'll put something out sooner, but no promises!


	4. Chapter 4

**Ripple Effect**

**Warnings: **OOCness, language, and shonen-ai/slash (boy x boy).

**AN:** Wow… I don't think I've ever gotten so many reviews for such a short story… Thank you everyone for the many reviews, favorites, and follows, I'm honored so many people like this story. I'll post my lame excuses at the bottom. :P So without further ado, part four!

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><p><strong>Chapter Four<strong>

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><p>"Well," Duo continued, turning to the varying expressions the teachers were shooting him. "Lunch?" Duo was hard pressed not to burst out laughing at the teacher's reactions. Dumbledore, who was apparently getting used to Duo's antics, just smiled.<p>

"First we should make sure Severus is alright," Dumbledore said as he and Flitwick approached the downed man. The other teachers seemed to still be in shock.

Duo nodded and crouched, bending over Snape, making sure to hold his braid out of the man's reach. Reaching forward he gently shook the man. "Wakey, wakey..." Getting no response he contemplated slapping the man or maybe dousing him in water. Flitwick interrupted his plotting.

"_Ennervate_! **[1]**" Duo blinked, momentarily blinded by the light from Flitwick's wand. He glanced down and was surprised to be looking into Snape's very awake and annoyed face.

"Good morning sleeping beauty, did you rest well?" Duo asked, giving Snape one of his sunniest smiles. Snape ignored him and instead clutched at his head, making a pained hiss. Duo winced and straitened. "Yeah… the headache is my fault, sorry."

Snape looked up, an angry retort ready but was stopped by the sight that greeted him. Duo was standing over him with an outstretched hand and an apologetic smile. After a moment of consideration, Snape grabbed the outstretched hand and was slightly surprised at the strength in Duo's grip as he basically lifted Snape up himself. "I suppose you have beaten me, Maxwell." Snape admitted grudgingly, still holding his head. "What did you hit me with?"

"That, my friend, was a pistol whip. I hit you with my gun." Duo said, patting the holster on his side. "So… truce? Agree to disagree?" Duo asked, holding out his hand again.

Snape paused, considering. He had to admit that this young man had just kicked his ass with little effort. He had proved his point. _'I suppose it wouldn't kill me to give this kid the benefit of a doubt…'_ Snape thought, grasping Duo's hand. "Alright Maxwell, you've proven your point."

Duo grinned wider, this man reminded him of Wufei somehow. "Duo, you can just call me Duo." Snape rolled his eyes but was interrupted by the other professors finally coming out of their stupors and charging forward to surround them.

"Severus, are you alright?" Dumbledore asked, pushing through the other teachers and smiling benignly as if one of his teacher's wasn't just knocked out.

"I'm fine, just a bit of a headache…" Snape muttered, face coloring slightly as he remembered the audience to his defeat.

Dumbledore looked to Duo, who was still wearing a sheepish expression with his hands stuffed in his pockets. It reminded Dumbledore that this agent was only fifteen. "Duo, I'm not disputing your victory, but that seemed to be a rather violent reaction to Severus pulling your hair." Dumbledore said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah… sorry but," Duo started, glancing down at his braid, "my hair is a memento of my past… I don't like people touching it. I know it sounds crazy but it's really precious to me." Duo finished, glancing up at Dumbledore and then to Snape, a small smirk crossing his face as he added. "Nobody touches the hair Sevvy."

Snape rolled his eyes at Duo's playful jib. "I doubt anyone would want to if they get shocked by touching it." Snape commented, busying himself by dusting of his robes.

Duo blinked. "You got shocked? I didn't shock you." Snape raised an eyebrow and lifted his sleeve, showing off the slightly signed hem. "…or I did? Sorry?" Duo said, eyeing the sleeve.

"Ah, I believe I can shed some light on this for you," Dumbledore said, smiling. "Duo used wandless magic."

The other professors blinked. McGonagall was the first to speak. "Albus, you told us that Mr. Maxwell has no training with magic, how could he use _wandless_ magic?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Duo hasn't had any prior training. His magic has been tapped so often without a wand that it responds without one. Emotional responses are the easiest way to activate it but I'm guessing that Duo can't use magic on purpose yet, right?" Dumbledore directed the last part at Duo, who nodded.

Sprout hurried over to Snape and offered to walk him to the hospital wing. Snape shook his head. "It's just a headache Ponoma, I'll be fine."

"Well, how about lunch now? If we go now they should still be serving." Flitwick suggested, bringing everyone out of their thoughts. Duo smiled at him gratefully, flushing a little when his stomach growling loudly.

Dumbledore smiled and gestured around them. "Well Duo, this is the front lawn which you'll see more of later. Now on to the Great Hall!" Turning in a swirl of robes, he led the way back into the castle. Instead of falling into step next to Dumbledore, Duo hung back and walked next to Snape, who was still holding his head and grumbling.

"…hurt that much?" Duo asked a slightly guilty look on his face. He mentally sighed, he'd only been here for less than half a day and he had already managed to knock out an ally and teacher who he was supposed to be protecting. _'Not the best first impression ever… though better than when I first met Heero,'_ that thought brought a small smile to his face.

Snape glanced over to him, surprised he hadn't noticed the boy hanging back. "I'm fine, I've had worse," he purposefully put his arm down and straitened, not wanting to show any more weakness.

Duo smirked at the attempt to be tough and reached up, lightly touching the lump forming on Snape's temple. "Really? Because that is one impressive lump, you need some ice," he said with a wry smile.

Snape moved his head away from the questing hand and narrowed his gaze. "Well, you did strike me in the head with a blunt object, which usually leaves a mark."

Duo couldn't help the embarrassed flush. "Sorry… I was a knee jerk reaction, you know?" At Snape's confused glance he elaborated. "A reflex, from all my training. I was, am, a soldier after all."

McGonagall and Sprout both shared the same thought as they quietly listened to Duo and Snape's conversation. _'A soldier so young…'_ Dumbledore had a slightly more somber expression, knowing that Harry would probably end up like this boy, hardened and battle scared before he was old enough to buy alcohol.

The group reentered the castle and Dumbledore stopped and gestured grandly at the large double doors to the Great Hall. "And this, Mr. Maxwell, is the Great Hall where everyone in the castle takes their meals." With a mischievous twinkle in his eye, he threw open both doors. His efforts were rewarded as Duo gasped.

"Holy shit…"

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><p><strong>TBC<strong>

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><p><strong>[1]<strong> No idea how to spell that and no reference, as usual. Let me know if it's wrong and I'll fix it.

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><p><strong>AN<strong>: Alright, so this is a bit late and shorter than I wanted but I needed to get this out before Christmas. :3 Merry Christmas everyone!

Okay so lame excuses time! My laptop, bless her soul, died and I had to buy a new one. The up side, it's a cute 1.5 pound mini-laptop. The bad news is I lost all the chapters, I even had to download the old ones to know where I had left off so I had to restart this one from scratch. . This seems to happen to me a lot and I am sorry for the wait, believe me I get annoyed when stories I like don't update fast.

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><p><strong>Deadline<strong>: Okay, I'm shooting for the third week of January but I'm already gearing up for next semester which will be my last because I'm graduating so updates will continue to be slow, sorry. .


	5. Chapter 5

**Ripple Effect**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own _Harry Potter_ or _Gundam Wing_.

**Warnings: **OOCness, language, and shonen-ai/slash (boy x boy) which may actually show up now! Yay! :3 There's also spoilers for the 4th Harry Potter book if you haven't read it yet.

**AN**: And this chapter has time skips, sorry I hate doing them but there is two months till the term and that would take a long time to write if there weren't time skips. Though our other main character finally makes an appearance in this chapter, so please no throwing things at the lazy author, ok? ;^.^ This means they'll be some POV changes but they'll be marked. Oh and I've stopped doing the dedications because if I did it would be another paragraph, so this is dedicated to all of you! Your reviews keep me inspired! :3

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><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

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><p>"Wow," Duo said, flopping down at his chair near the end of the Head Table. "I can't believe school starts next week, the time really has flown by…"<p>

Beside him Hagrid chuckled. "I think some of t'e professors are relieved yer gonna' be only observin' and not being taught with the rest of their studemts."

Duo smiled sheepishly and winced when the doors to the Great Hall slammed open. McGonagall walked in, her hair was out of its normal bun and fluttery around her shoulders as she angrily marched straight for Duo. The reason for the professor's ire was easily observable to everyone in the room as they all stared at McGonagall in horror. Her normally brown and grey hair was now a rather loud, fluorescent orange and appeared to be lightly glowing. Sinking lower in his chair he looked up at Hagrid mournfully. "Well Hagrid, it was nice knowing you…"

"Mr. Maxwell," McGonagall said coolly, stopping directly in front of him. Hagrid leaned back in his chair, wide eyes fixed on the professor in front of him.

"Uh… Hi Minny… G-good after… noon…?" Duo muttered trailing off as he sat up straighter since he obviously wasn't getting out of this one.

"Madame Pomphrey has informed me that this mishap is irreversible and the only thing I can do is cut it all off and re-grow it," McGonagall practically hissed at the boy, eyes narrowed.

Duo winced. "I'm really, _really_ sorry Minny I swear it was an accident I wasn't even aiming at you it was-" Duo babbled, panicking.

McGonagall cut him off, waving her hand with a sigh. "The Madame has a hair growing potion for me but from now on you will do your practical magic outside far, _far_ away from me and I will view the results afterwards." McGonagall said, deflating at the look on Duo's face. "I know it wasn't on purpose but your mishaps happen much too often for it to be advisable to continue as we have."

Duo nodded and looked down pitifully. "I really am sorry Minny…" McGonagall sighed and waved him off, patting his shoulder before sitting in her own seat and grabbing herself some lunch.

Hagrid whistled lightly. "Tha' means the only teacher's allowin' ya ter practice in their classes are Snape and Flitwick." Hagrid mused, chuckling at Duo's pout.

"I know, everyone else has forbidden me from doing magic and Sprout has refused to let me come anywhere near her greenhouses…" Duo sighed, poking at his food dejectedly. "It's not _my_ fault every time I go in there some crazy plant tries to eat me and I end up killing it… I don't see why she has so many dangerous plants all loose and able to grab people anyway…" Duo trailed off, muttering and stabbing at his poor, unsuspecting plate of food, not really hungry anymore.

Hagrid chuckled and was about to pat Duo on the shoulder again when the seat on the other side of Duo was pulled out and Snape sat down. **[1]** He was eyeing McGonagall's new hairstyle then he turned to Duo and raised an eyebrow. "I take it that is your handiwork? Just out of curiosity, what were you trying to do?"

Duo sighed, pushing his plate away, crossing his arms on the table, and burying his face in them. His voice came out muffled as he responded. "I was trying to change the color of a feather quill."

Snape couldn't help chuckling at the boy's expense. "I see."

Hagrid shook his head. In the short months Duo had been here he'd managed to make friends with all the teachers, though most wouldn't come anywhere near him if his wand was out. He'd also managed to somehow lighten up Snape's normally sour expressions, mostly because he found Duo's repeated mishaps with all the other teachers hilarious. Plus the fact that it turned out Duo was great at potion making, mostly because being a demolitions expert meant he was used to handling very specific amounts of very volatile substances.

Duo sighed loudly, though it was still muffled by his arms. "I think everyone except you two would dive under the table if I so much as sneezed loudly…" Duo said forlornly.

Snape chuckled again and patted Duo's head. "No they wouldn't. Now if you pulled your wand out I'm fairly certain this room would be empty in a matter of seconds, however."

Duo lifted his head so he could glare at the older man. "You're not helping."

Snape raised an eyebrow. "Was I supposed to be?"

Duo growled at him and buried his head back in his arms. "You suck Sevvy." Snape just ruffled the boy's bangs and went back to eating. After two months of Duo's insistence on calling him the hated nickname Snape had finally given up. His annoyance had lessened at the realization that Duo insisted on giving everyone a nickname, most of which were overly cute and informal. The two had managed to start an odd friendship since Duo could actually be in Snape's presence and not blow up anything.

Without looking Duo flipped Snape off and flattened his bangs back down. In the same token, somewhere along the lines Duo had gotten used to the man ruffling his bangs or patting him on the head, though Snape avoided the braid at all costs. He still remembered the nasty shock it had given him during their 'duel' when the boy had first arrived. Duo puffed out another breath and sat up, still pouting. "I don't get it, I mean I'm fine when it comes to the spells but if I lose any concentration the whole things blows up in my face, sometimes literally."

"Dumbledore did tell ya it would be hard at first. Don' give up Duo, yer already up to fourth year, tha's only a year short of where yer supposed to be. It's a miracle ya' learned it so fast." Hagrid said, smiling at him.

"I know, I just wish my mishaps weren't so, well, crazy." Duo shook his head, eyeing the orange haired professor McGonagall who was still being questioned and fussed over by the rest of the staff.

Snape snorted. "All the other students have mishaps as well, they're just normally aimed at their peers and not their professors."

Duo had to chuckle himself at Snape's attempt to cheer him up, and raised an eyebrow. "Thanks for that pearl of wisdom Sevvy."

"You're welcome," Snape said, ignoring the sarcasm.

Duo stuck his tongue out at Snape, "You're the worst, you know that?"

Snape just smirked. "Be quiet and finish your lunch, you have potions with me afterwards and I'll not be subjected to your grumbling stomach because you were too busy pouting to eat."

"I am not pouting!" Duo said, huffing and crossing his arms. He only managed to do so for a moment, however, as his stomach decided to say that even if Duo wasn't hungry it was. Blushing Duo sighed. "Fine…" he said, grabbing his suddenly empty plate and putting more food on it. It had taken him a long time to trust the magically appearing food and he still didn't eat most of it. English food was just too greasy for his tastes.**[2]** He had been really happy to find other dishes on the plates after telling Dumbledore about his dislike for the normal fair. The other professors had been rather cautious of the new foods, many of which were Japanese since Duo had developed a liking to the country's food after living with Heero for so long.

**~`~ time skip ~`~**

The rest of the week was a blur to Duo. Most of his time was spent getting more familiar with the castle which was hard seeing as the damn thing seemed _determined_ to get him lost every time he tried to get from one place to another. Somehow he'd managed to put the fear of shinigami into Peeves, the poltergeist normally fleeing when he say the boy coming his way. When asked about it, Duo had just smiled and said that Peeves had found out just how good Duo was getting at using wandless magic.

The only class he was still attending was potions, which he was growing to like as it was one he excelled at. Snape had agreed that when Duo was in his class to observe he could participate with the lesson. The other professors had insisted he not do anything remotely practical in or near their classrooms. Instead they had all opted to lecture him and give him homework that consisted of him practicing the spells on his own. Although Duo had decided to keep his coreless wand and used it while with others, he normally tried the magic without it. He found it easier to concentrate on the object or spell rather than the wand.

"Duo!"

Duo turned and spotted Hagrid standing near the front doors. He smiled and waved back, wandering over. "What's up big guy?" Duo asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"I'm abou' to head down ta' greet the students and escort t'e firs' years across t'e lake, wanna' come down with me?" Hagrid asked, fiddling with the big lantern he was holding.

"Sure I'll walk down there with you," Duo said, holding open the door for the man, "they always arrive this late?"

Hagrid grinned. "Yep, and we're not walkin,' we're gonna' escort the carriages." Hagrid said, gesturing to the large carriages huddled in front of them.

Duo didn't respond at first, too busy staring at the skeletal, winged horses pulling the carriages. "Uh… Hagrid… what are those?" He said after he'd recovered enough to speak. _'This place gets weirder by the day…'_ Duo thought, eyeing the horses that were eyeing him back.

"Oh," Hagrid said, smile faltering, "I guess I shouldn' be surprised ya can see t'e thestrals… Only people who have seen death can see them so the kids all think their horse-less carriages." Hagrid said, petting a nearby theastral who leaned into his hand making a little whiny at him. **[3]**

"They're so… cool…" Duo said, holding out a hand to the nearest one, who sniffed at him before allowing him to pet it.

Hagrid beamed. "Most don' really like 'em since they think of 'em as bad omens." Climbing inside the carriage he held out a hand to Duo. "They'll bring us down to t'e station so hop in."

Duo nodded and grasped the man's hand, letting him pull him into the surprisingly big carriage. "You have the neatest animals Hagrid."

"Thanks," Hagrid said, rubbing the back of his head. Duo snickered, sure that if he could see beneath that thick beard Hagrid would be blushing.

**~Harry~**

Harry couldn't help smiling as he changed into his school robes. He was finally heading back to Hogwarts, the place he considered his home. After all the craziness that happened at the World Cup, Harry was ready to get back to the relatively peaceful castle with his friends. The girls came back in and they all checked their stuff, Hermione making sure Crookshanks was in his carrying case.

"Man, I can't wait to eat, I miss all the great food!" Ron said, rubbing his grumbling stomach. Harry chuckled at his friend's antics while Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Really Ron, I can't wait to get back to learning more, I've already read through most of our texts," Hermione gushed, holding onto the text for their Defense class.

Harry shook his head at her excitement, not looking forward to the homework. "I wonder who our new Defense teacher is," he mused out loud, looking out the window as the train slowed. They were almost there now.

"Hmm, I don't know. I hope it isn't another Lockheart," Ron said, wrinkling his nose in disgust. "Maybe we'll get someone like Lupin, he was a great teacher." Harry and Hermione both nodded their agreement, remembering one of their favorite teachers. "Sucks he couldn't come back this year."

They saw the train pull into the station and slowly stop. They all stood and filed out into the isles, merging with the crowd already leading them out onto the platform.

"You know," Harry mused aloud, "This is the first time I've arrived here normally sine first year. Do we all just walk up to the road to the castle?" **[4]**

"No silly, we ride the carriages," Hermione said as they pushed through the crowds. They all brightened when they heard the familiar call of "firs' years o'er here!"

"Hey Hagrid!" Harry shouted, waving at the man as he pushed through the crowd toward him.

"Hey Harry, decided to come ta' school t'e normal way?" Hagrid said, smiling at the boy's blush. "Come on o'er here, I gotta' friend for ya ta' meet!" Hagrid said, all smiles.

"Harry," Hermione said, tapping him on the shoulder. "We need to go grab something on the train, Ron forgot something." Ron blushed and looked away, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "We'll met you up at the castle."

Nodding Harry waved his two friends off and finally managed to push through the crowd to Hagrid. "Hey Hagrid, are you talking about the new DADA professor?" Harry asked, looking up at the huge man.

"No actually, I'm talkin' abou' Duo here." Hagrid said, waving at the slight figure next to him. "Go on, say hi Duo." Hagrid pushed the figure forward who stumbled a few steps before catching his balance by grabbing onto Harry's outstretched arms, which had been ready to catch him.

"Oi, we really need to discuss your insistence on manhandling me Hagrid," the figure said, turning and glaring at the man. Hagrid just smiled and went back to calling out to the first years. Straightening, the boy turned back to Harry who blinked owlishly at him. If Harry hadn't already heard the him speak he would have sworn the person standing in front of him was a girl. Big violet eyes under a mess of chestnut bangs twinkled back at him. "Hi."

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><p><strong>TBC<strong>

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><p><strong>[1]<strong> I know this isn't how the Head Table seating is but I changed it on purpose seeing as most of the professors are a bit uncomfortable sitting next to Duo now, the poor guy…

**[2]** This is purely guesswork, I've heard its greasy from other people but have never really tried it myself so no getting mad at me British peoples reading this! *waves white flag*

**[3]** So, another spelling I'm not sure of. Let me know if I got it wrong. .

**[4]** So I thought this was the first book Harry sees the carriages but my fiancé says I'm wrong, so… if I'm wrong then this part is slightly AU. .

**AN**: Whoot, Harry and Duo have met! I know, I'm definitely breaking cannon with Snape but I love writing the two of them interacting. *giggles* If I wasn't already decided in the pairing I would so throw some Snape/Duo in here… This one is a little late but I really didn't want to give you guys another tiny chapter so I kept working on it a bit longer. *yawns* Now I am off to bed, seeing as it is 4 am. *wanders of grumbling tiredly*

**Deadline**: Because this is my last semester I can't be sure when I'll be able to put the next one up. It may not be too long though because I'll be spending a lot of time waiting on my fiancé's classes (we carpool and most of mine are online so I don't need to spend as much time at school). I'm putting a tentative late February but it could be later.


	6. Chapter 6

**Ripple Effect**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own _Harry Potter_ or _Gundam Wing_.

**Warnings: **OOCness, language, and shonen-ai/slash (boy x boy) which may actually show up now! Yay! :3

**AN**: Ta-da! :3 Thanks for all the reviews, this chapter has a special guest! This came out a bit quicker because I've started writing this in class in my notebook. .

And a special note, one of my fair reviewers (DuoMaxwell2x4) suggested that I could take and make a separate story for the time skips. I like this idea so keep your eyes peeled for some one-shots! :3

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><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

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><p>Duo blinked up at the kid in front of him. Hagrid had gushed non-stop about this kid on the ride down to the platform. Duo sighed internally, even though he was at least a year older than Harry the boy had at least two inches on him. <em>'Why are all these English people so tall?'<em> Giving the kid his sunniest smile, Duo stuck his hand out. "Hi."

Harry blinked owlishly at the slightly shorter boy. He smiled back hesitantly. _'Great, this guy will probably freak out the second he hears who I am…'_ Stealing himself, Harry grasped the offered hand. He was a bit surprised at the strong, calloused grip. "Hi, my name's Harry Potter, it's nice to meet you."

Duo hummed and shook Harry's hand absently. "My name's Duo, Duo Maxwell." Dropping Harry's hand, Duo tucked his hands back into his pockets and huddled more into the cloak Hagrid had given him, even though he'd shrunk it, the thing still swallowed him. Harry couldn't help his confused blink. This new guy, Duo, hadn't even twitched at his name. He didn't even attempt to catch a glimpse at his scar. It was a nice change of pace from the normal reaction.

"Oi, Harry-chan, you mind if we snag a carriage? I hate this freezing English weather."

Harry snapped out of his thoughts, looking back to the dancing violet eyes in confusion. _'English weather…?'_ Without thinking Harry blurted out. "Are you a foreigner?"

Duo blinked at the sudden question, then raised an eyebrow. "Do I look British to you?" he asked, tilting his head.

Harry blushed, embarrassed. _'Smooth move Harry, next you should ask him some more personal questions, god I'm an idiot.'_ "Oh, uh… no?" he said timidly.

Laughing, Duo snatched Harry's hand, dragging him toward the carriages. "I'm technically American, but I've lived all over because of my work." **[1]**

Harry blushed deeper and was grateful Duo was too busy navigating the crowd to notice. "It isn't cold in America?" Harry asked curiously.

"Depends really, the south is hot but up north it gets colder. I just prefer warmer climates, especially since I really didn't pack for such cold weather since it's still technically summer." Duo said absently. "Aha, hop in." Duo had finally managed to grab a carriage and climbed in, ignoring the one occupant already inside. Harry blinked at the person staring back at him. Before Harry could voice his objection Duo had climbed in and hauled him in too, closing the door behind them.

"Sorry for the intrusion but its freezing out there," Duo said smiling at the blond kid across from him. "Hi, I'm Duo Maxwell."

Recovering the kid's eyes shifted to Harry. "Potter."

Sighing, Harry settled into his seat. _'This… isn't going to end well.'_ "Malfoy."

"Oh, you guys already know each other? Great, that makes this a little less awkward," Duo said blithesomely, huddling deeper into his giant cloak.

Draco raised a delicate eyebrow. He was sorely tempted to question this guy's sanity but his curiosity got the better of him. "My name is Draco Malfoy."

"Nice to meet you, you already know Harry-chan here. Are you two in the same year?" Duo asked happily, finally thawing out in the warmer carriage.

"Yes, we're both starting our fourth year. What year are you in Mr. Maxwell?" Draco asked, eyeing the unfamiliar person. _'He must be a student; he looks to be the same age as us but there isn't a house crest on his cloak.'_

"Actually I'm not a student here," Duo said flippantly.

"You're not?" Harry blurted, staring at the boy next to him. Draco snorted lightly and Harry blushed again. "Ah… sorry, that was rude…"

Duo waved him off, chuckling. "It's okay," he said, ruffling Harry's dark locks. "No, I'm not a student."

Scowling Harry swatted away Duo's hand. "Then why're you here?"

"That," Duo said, smiling mischievously and holding up a pale finger, "is my little secret."

Harry pouted. "What? That's not fair."

Draco couldn't hold in his laughter at Harry's pouting face. Duo smirked, "Calm down Harry-chan, AB is going to announce why I'm here at the welcoming feast."

Harry's pout was replaced by a look of confusion. "Who's 'AB?' And why do you keep calling me 'Harry-chan?'"

Duo's smile widened. "AB is your headmaster and I call you Harry-chan because I can." He chirped happily. Both boys stared at Duo in disbelief, shocked the boy in front of them was so familiar with their headmaster. Before either of them could voice this the carriage stopped and Duo happily climbed out, literally crawling over Harry in the process.

"Okay, I've gotta' run kids, see you around Harry-chan, Dray," Duo said running off toward the crowd heading into the castle.

"…you befriend the oddest people Potter," Draco commented, noticing Duo's long braid trailing behind him as he dashed away.

"I blame karma," Harry muttered back, fighting down his blush. Duo had actually sat in his lap at one point. _'Are all Americans that crazy?'_ he thought, climbing out and distractedly holding the door open for Draco.

Draco hopped out, ignoring Harry's sudden manners and uttered a 'thank you' as Harry shut the door behind him. "Really? I figured you would blame the 'boy-who-lived' nonsense."

Harry snorted. "I would but Duo isn't from around here, he didn't react at all to my name." The two boys fell into step, somehow managing to not go at each other throats. A few onlookers glanced around for signs of the four horsemen, as this was surely a sign of the end times. **[2]**

"That must have been disappointing," Draco said, smirking and chucking to himself.

Harry shook his head. "It was a _relief_, I can't tell you how annoying it is to be chased and asked personal questions by complete strangers. Once I even lied and gave a fake name," Harry said, sighing and giving Draco an exasperated look.

"Sure, whatever you say Potter," Draco said, turning and moving to join the crowd. Harry stuck his tongue out at his retreating back before turning and making his own way into the castle.

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><p>Duo flopped into his seat. Snape raised an eyebrow at him. "Where have you been?"<p>

"Hagrid dragged me to the station to meet some kid. I took a carriage back, I miss anything?" Duo said, pulling off his giant cloak and hanging it on the back of his chair revealing his Preventer uniform, complete with holsters for both his gun and wand.

"Nothing yet," Snape said glaring out at the loud students. "Once this lot settles we'll have the Sorting and then Albus will make his announcements."

"Sorting?" Duo asked, leaning closer to Snape so he could hear the man over the ruckus the students were making. Snape turned back to Duo and launched into an explanation of the Sorting, complete with gratuitous sarcasm and eye rolling at Duo's lack of knowledge.

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><p>Harry had managed to find his friends who were having one of their little spats. Harry rolled his eyes, glancing up to the Head Table. He stared for a moment before interrupting the squabbling. "Is it just me or did the teachers change their seats?"<p>

Hermione looked up at the table, scrutinizing the seating order. "You're right, and there's an extra chair… oh look, is that the new DADA professor talking to Professor Snape?"

It took Harry a minute to find the hated professor's new spot. "No, that's Duo," Harry said, launching into an explanation of their meeting.

"Hm," Ron said after Harry finished, "he sounds nice, I wonder why he's talking to that evil git?" Harry shrugged, the three of them lapsing into silence as they watched the Sorting.

"Honestly I don't know anything about him, though Hagrid seems to like him," Harry mused after a few minutes, watching Hagrid start a conversation with Duo. Hagrid said something and Duo suddenly turned and locked eyes with Harry, smiling and waving at him before turning back to his conversation.

"Oh," Hermione gasped next to him. "Are his eyes purple? I've never seen anyone with eyes that color… I wonder if that's natural." Harry shrugged, watching Duo wave his arms about animatedly as Hagrid chuckled at him.

Finally the Sorting finished and McGonagall whisked away the hat and stool. Dumbledore stood, smiling and waiting for the students to quiet back down. It was evident the rest of the school had noticed the changes at the Head Table and silence fell rather quickly.

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><p><strong>TBC<strong>

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><p><strong>[1]<strong> Pretty sure Duo is listed as American… *hangs head in shame* I really need to revisit both of these fandoms…

**[2]** Whoot, four horsemen of the apocalypse mention, I couldn't resist.

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><p><strong>AN<strong>: Okay, I know I stopped in an odd place but while I was writing this I realized I need the book for the next part. . I'm heading to my boxes to find it now so the next part will be a bit more cannon, I hope.

Whoot, I got to write another of my favorite Slytherins! I haven't decided if I'm going to make him a main character or not. Let me know what you guys think. :3 And I know I've done some cop out with the explanations and this may seem a little hectic but its meant to be, I figure the first night back and the feast are a pretty hectic time. Now back to homework… *pouts and grabs my accounting book and wanders off*

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><p><strong>Deadline<strong>: Near the end of February, maybe first week of March.


	7. Chapter 7

**Ripple Effect**

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><p><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> I do not own _Harry Potter_ or _Gundam Wing_.

**Warnings:** OOCness, maybe a little AU, language, and Duo. :3

**AN:** Whoot, I love getting so many reviews! *giggles* So many people must think I'm crazy sitting at a table in the lobby gigging to myself. ;^.^ This isn't going to be as canon as I'd hoped because my books are _all_ MIA so I had to hit up HP wiki. Also, I realize that I am probably really messing up the climate in London, I keep saying its cold but it's September, where I'm from that's still almost 100 degree weather. Sorry if I'm messing it up, just pretend Duo hates any slight cold.

On a related note, I got an unsigned review that mentioned Duo avoiding telling Harry he is from a space colony, there's a simple explanation there: after talking to the professors Duo has discovered that most pure blooded magic folk don't _know_ about the colonies. He's not mentioning it on the off-chance someone will recognize him and to avoid having to explain what colonies are (so yes guest, you were correct :3). And I love the guest who suggested that the GW boys are the four horsemen, maybe I'll use it but not in this one, sorry. :3

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><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

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><p>Dumbledore smiled, watching the students quiet down rather quickly. "Welcome back everyone to another year at Hogwarts…"<p>

Duo toned out the rest, something about the forest and rules, all things he had already heard. He was busy watching the students all whisper and point at the obviously rearranged Head Table. He had to grimace a little at that, knowing it had happened because many teachers had refused to sit next to him after a few mishaps.

"…I would also like to announce that instead of Quidditch this year we will be having a special event-" His next words were cut off as the Great Hall doors were slammed open, revealing a hooded figure. The figure then proceeded to limp to the Head Table, saying something to Dumbledore as he passed and claimed the last open seat.

"Ah, I would like to that this chance to introduce your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Alaster Moody," Dumbledore said, gesturing to the seated figure who finally lowered his hood, revealing his face. There were many gasps at the man's appearance. He had a scarred, weather beaten face. The most obvious reason for the gasps was the large electric blue eye that was constantly spinning in its socket.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, once again getting the attention of the room. "As I was saying, this year we will be hosting the Triwizard Tournament, which will begin at the end of October on Halloween…"

Duo once again tuned out Dumbledore, though this time the reason was the new addition to the Head Table. He couldn't put his finger on it but the guy just screamed shady to him. Then again, Dumbledore had specifically requested he come out of retirement for the post. Apparently the man had been ex-military, at least in the magical sense, and was a great pick for the position and a great addition to the security during the tournament. Dumbledore had told Duo the man was paranoid but good at what he did.

"And finally, I would like to introduce a special guest who will be with us this year. Agent Duo Maxwell of the muggle Preventers, an organization similar to our Aurors," at this Dumbledore gestured to Duo, who smiled out at the crowd and gave a little wave. "He is a wizard and will be observing classes and assisting in security for the tournament this year, please treat him as you would a professor. And with that, I send you all off to bed, good night."

At that announcement all the students stood clamoring away loudly as they filed past the Head Table. Many students were outright staring at the two new additions, receiving a glare from Moody and a sunny smile from Duo. **[1]**

"Hey Duo."

Turning, the braided boy smiled up at Harry, who was now flanked by a red head boy and a bushy haired girl. "Yo Harry-chan, told you I wasn't a student," Duo said, winking at the boy.

Harry folded his arms. "You didn't say you were some kind of security detail-" Harry started, but was cut off by Ron.

"Blimey, you don't look much older than us and you're a soldier?" he asked wide-eyed.

Duo raised an eyebrow and ignored the amused snort from the man still sitting next to him. "Hey, I'm older than you. Besides, I'm not a soldier, I'm a Preventer. It's not the same thing."

Hermione swatted at the red head. "Ronald, how rude! Besides, how can you not know what a Preventer is?"

Harry shook his head. "You should know by now 'Mione that wizards don't care about muggle current events."

During this Duo had propped his head up on a hand, watching the three bicker. He chuckled when he felt the man next to him sigh in agitation, Deciding to save Snape the headache Duo cleared his throat, earning the three's attention again. "Shouldn't you three be heading to bed?"

"Oh yeah, I guess we'll see you around Duo?" Harry said, realizing that most of the other Gryffindors had already left and they would have to hurry to catch up to get the password.

"Of course, I am on guard duty. Now hurry off before you lose them, believe me you do _not_ want to get lost here," Duo said, waving the three on.

Waving they hurried off, huddling and whispering as they left. Duo shook his head, standing up as well. "Are they always that twitchy?" Duo asked, not really expecting a response.

"In my classes they are," Snape responded, a smirk on his face. Duo laughed, that news did not surprise him at all.

"Why you teach when kids obviously bug the shit outta' you is beyond me Sev," Duo replied, waiting for the other man to stand and then falling into step with him. This gained them some attention as students watched them chat.

Snape shrugged, glaring at strangling Gryffindors who squeaked and hurried after their classmates. "I daresay the students think I do so just to torment them," Snape said holding the door open as they slipped through.

"Can you blame them?" Duo said, chuckling.

The two continued on towards the dungeons. Duo had been allowed to choose any rooms and he'd stumbled upon some near the Potion's classroom. He had immediately claimed them since the dungeons were easier to navigate, especially after getting lost and wandering through most of it on his first day.

"Well this is my stop, thanks for walking me home," Duo said as he turned and batted his eyelashes at Snape. The older man just rolled his eyes and waved him off before continuing on. He had gotten used to the young man's odd blend of teasing and flirting having realized Duo just loved to ruffle people's feathers.

Watching Snape disappear, Duo opened his door and went in, merging moments later in jeans, a black t-shirt, and his cloak. "Ah I hate night watch…" Duo muttered before wandering out of the castle. Until he got a better hang of the place he did outside duty, which was fine by him. Getting lost in the castle was embarrassing but if you got distracted for a second the damn place changed.

Sighing Duo started his first round, this was going to be a long assignment.

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><p><strong>TBC<strong>

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><p><strong>[1]<strong> I know this part is rushed but this damn speech had me held up so long I just wanted to get it written.

**AN**: I know it's short but I wanted to get this done and posted, next will be longer.

**Deadline**: Sorry about the wait but this is going to be slow since I have to make it up as I go. I'm shooting for first week of July or sooner, no promises though.


	8. Chapter 8

**Ripple Effect**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own _Harry Potter_ or _Gundam Wing_.

**Warnings:** OOCness, a bit AU, language, and Duo. :3

**AN**: Finally got my hands on another book, had to buy it since my old one has decided to run away. I know this is late but I promise it will be longer than the last one since I finally have me a reference. Thanks everyone for your reviews, favorites, and follows. They make me smile and inspire me to keep on writing. I've got a surprise for you guys in this one. *winks* Enjoy~!

**Side** **note**: I'm not answering reviews here, sign in if you want a response, sorry but I don't want to risk this getting deleted for that.

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><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

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><p>Duo was <em>not<em> a morning person. His alarm clock, which was now in pieces next to his door, could attest to that. He was sourly bemoaning the fact that school always started so very early in the morning. He had been up very late patrolling the very large grounds.

Duo sighed, dragging his butt out of bed and throwing on clean clothes. Wandering into the bath, he managed to brush his teeth and hair without too much incident. He had to pull his hair up into a ponytail; he needed coffee before he attempted to braid it. The late night had left his fingers clumsy. He'd managed to brush it but the chestnut mass refused to cooperate with him. It was times like these that he missed Heero, that guy was always alert and seemed to like braiding his hair though all the pilots had offered at one point.

A small smile ghosted across his face, Heero had quickly become a fixture in his life, though both had already established this was a friendship and not a relationship since Heero had somehow fallen for the Pink Princess. How she'd managed to net him Duo didn't know but he couldn't' be too angry, the girl had changed a lot since the war.

He smiled crookedly, such thoughts left him feeling a bit homesick which was still a new feeling to him; having a home and all. Duo sighed, waving a hand over his alarm clock. The clock put itself back together and he picked it up and tossed it on his unmade bed, he'd gotten a lot of practice with the repair spell and it was one of few he could do easily. Turning he trudged out his room, wandering the path into the Great Hall, lost in his own head. He didn't even notice the students who stopped their breakfasts to watch him make his entrance and short walk to his chair.

"S'up Sev," he murmured, flopping into the chair next to the Potion's Master, grabbing the coffee pot. He poured himself a cup before he realized something was amiss. Glancing up at Snape he blinked. "What?"

"Maxwell… do realize you're not wearing your uniform?" Snape asked bemusedly.

Duo blinked big blue eyes up at him. "I'm not?" he looked down and confirmed that he was indeed wearing a plain blue tee and jeans with his combat boots which was definitely not his Preventer uniform. He paused and then shrugged, drinking his first cup black. "Ah fuck it, Une's not here to yell at me about decorum…" he muttered, pouring another cup.

Snape continued a smirk on his face. "Well, you do realize that without your uniform and with your hair like that the students will mistake you for a female." **[1]**

Duo, who was dropping sugar cubes into his coffee, froze. Looking up at the students, he was greeted with the male students blushing and avoiding his gaze while the females were sizing him up like he was competition. "…Today is gonna' suck." Duo announced to Snape, noting that his late arrival meant he wasn't going to have time to eat and return to his rooms. He was not skipping breakfast because these kids couldn't tell a person's gender.

Snape snorted and patted the boy on the shoulder. "You'll be fine, the groups you're watching have Herbology first thing."

"Oh don't tell me that…" Duo moaned, thumping his head on the table. "You realize I have to monitor them so I have to go in there?" he grumbled into the tabletop.

Snape lifted an eyebrow. "I thought Sprout forbade you from setting foot in her greenhouses?" he said helpfully.

"No, I have to be there, boss's orders. I have to keep the classes in my line of sight which means I have to be in there… she is gonna' kill me…" Duo bemoaned, sitting up and throwing back his second cup of coffee then putting food on his plate.

Snape snorted, he doubted very much that Sprout would hurt Duo. "Here, this is the schedule of classes today," he said, handing Duo a piece of paper.

Accepting it Duo glanced over it, noting that he did indeed have Herbology first thing though that was followed by Hagrid's class which perked him up a bit. Then he had Divination, which was nap time as far as Duo was concerned. He'd had run-ins with that professor and neither was very fond of the other. Sighing Duo turned his big blue eyes back to Snape with a pout. "But I don't wanna' go to class, can't I call in sick?" he asked in a whiny voice.

Snape, who was already used to Duo's antics, just smirked. "No Maxwell, you know you're required to follow around the Trio when you're not on patrol."

Duo folded his arms, pouting. "I am going to have a talk with them about their choice of classes, I mean come on, Divination? Seriously?"

Snape had to hold back a smile at the boy's obvious displeasure. He opened his mouth to retort but paused, noticing Dumbledore entering the Hall with an unfamiliar face in tow. "Looks like we have a guest…" Snape said, eyeing the newcomer.

Duo sighed, probably another person he would have to guard or work with. Glancing up he froze, a smile slowly spreading across his face. The newcomer smirked, giving a curt nod to Duo as he was led toward the Head Table. He didn't make it though as Duo dashed around the table and happily threw himself into the other boy with a cry of "Hee-chan!"

Dumbledore smiled benignly, his eyes moving to Snape's questioning face. "I would like to introduce Agent Maxwell's partner, Agent Heero Yuy," Dumbledore said by way of explanation.

"Hee-chan what are you doing here? I thought you didn't have magic so you couldn't come with me?" Duo gushed happily, still hugging the other boy who had set his hands on the excited boy's hips.

"Calm down Duo, I'll explain later," Heero said, a tiny smile on his face. He'd had to pull a lot of strings to get this position but he knew the braided baka would need help.

Duo pulled back, huge smile still on his face. "Ah I don't care, I'm just glad to see you," he chirped happily, grabbing his hand and dragging him around the table before pausing as he realized there weren't enough chairs. "AB?"

"Of course Duo," Dumbledore said, gesturing and summoning another chair for Heero. "Now I must go attend to some business, I'll see you all at dinner." So saying he swept out of the room, leaving the Hall in total silence as everyone stared at the two now sitting next to Snape.

* * *

><p>Harry had been eating breakfast and listening to his two friends prattle on. Hermione had discovered Hogwarts had house elves and was outraged while Ron, who'd grown up with them, didn't see what all the fuss was about. <strong>[2]<strong> Harry ignored them, he had been worried about not hearing from Sirius but now he was bemoaning his class schedule. He would look forward to Hagrid's class, but Divination was not something he was very excited about. He'd probably be more excited at his own funeral.

These morose thoughts were interrupted when a newcomer swept into the Hall. For a minute Harry was confused, wondering who it was. But when he saw the person look up and out at the students he realized with a start that it was Duo. The man looked so different with his hair pouring over his shoulder and casual clothes that he hadn't recognized him.

Ron, the ever observant, whistled. "Who's the new girl? She's gorgeous," he said, eyeing Duo. Harry actually choked on his juice, shocked laughter making him inhale a mouthful of it.

"Who-?" Hermione started to ask him, pounding on Harry's back. She was interrupted as the door swung open again to reveal Dumbledore with another newcomer in tow.

This newcomer was tan, with dark messy brown hair, and cold blue eyes. His eyes scanned the room as he entered, somewhat reminiscent of Moody's crazy blue eye from the night before. This boy, however, was wearing the same uniform Duo had been wearing the night before.

"He must be another Preventer agent," Hermione said, watching the new boy approach the table. They stared as Duo caught sight of the boy and tackled him in a hug. The boy seemed to have expected it as he didn't even sway, catching the exuberant brunette and giving him a tiny smile.

"Dang, I guess she has a boyfriend," Ron muttered disappointedly, watching the two walk around the table and sit next to each other.

Harry snorted and shook his head. "Ron, that 'girl' is Duo," Harry pointed out, a crooked smile on his face.

Ron gaped at him and then stared at the two boys. "…Are you sure mate? That person looks very girly to me," he said finally, sitting back and giving Harry a skeptic look.

"Pretty sure," Harry said shrugging. There weren't any other new people in the building so it had to be Duo. Hermione shook her head.

"Just because that person has long hair doesn't mean they're female Ronald, lots of muggle boys our age have long hair," she said huffily, gathering up her books.

Blinking at her, Harry glanced at the clock and cursed to himself. "Shit. Ron,'Mione I'll meet you at the greenhouses, I forgot my text," he said quickly, jumping up and grabbing a roll before he dashed out. The only book he had forgotten to grab had been the Herbology one so it was his luck that he would have that first thing in the morning.

* * *

><p>Noticing the crowds thinning Duo glanced at the clock and sighed. "Well Hee-chan I've gotta' get to work, are you coming with me…?" he asked uncertainly, not sure what the details of his partner's assignment were. He'd happily filled him in on the school but they couldn't' discuss their mission out in the open with so many possible eavesdroppers.<p>

"No, I am to report to Dumbledore for a tour and briefing," he said, cracking that tiny smile again at the disappointed look Duo was sporting. "I am to join you for the afternoon classes and evening patrol."

Duo lit up at that. "Okay, let me walk you to AB's office, you might get lost without me, this place is always changing, it's weird," he said, standing and nodding to Snape. "Catch you later Sevy." Snape nodded to Duo, watching the two leave the Hall.

"Sevy?" Heero asked, raising an eyebrow at Duo.

Duo chuckled, flipping his hair over his shoulder. "His name is Severus Snape and he's the resident Potion's Master and grouch, though he's actually pretty cool. He's the only teacher who hasn't kicked me out of class because of… um… complications," Duo explained, rubbing his head a little at the end. That was still an embarrassing thing to admit.

Heero hn'd, not surprised Duo had managed to get kicked out of class. The boy had a tendency to just say what he felt and damn the consequences. It made him a rather interesting partner to be sure. "Schedule?"

"Ah, hang on…" Duo said, rummaging around in his jeans for a moment before fishing out the paper. "Here you go, I've already memorized it, though I'm following a specific group so it shouldn't be hard to keep track of where I'm heading," he said passing Heero the paper. "And this is your stop."

Heero glanced up and raised an eyebrow at the stone gargoyle in front of him. A hidden door? It wasn't the first he'd seen but it was odd to find one in a school.

"Yeah I know, I guess AB is paranoid or something, skittles," Duo answered the unasked question. Before Heero could wonder about the random candy the statue had leapt to the side which meant there was a gun now leveled at its head.

"Down boy," Duo said gently pushing the barrel down. "It's magic, the big guy is the guard and you need the password, skittles, to get by. You go up the steps and it's the only door."

Heero nodded, still eyeing the statue as he stowed his gun. "Right, you should get moving," he said as he turned to the steps.

"One more thing Heero…" Duo said, tugging on Heero's arm and turning him back to face him. "Thanks." He said simply, smiling at the slightly taller boy.

Heero nodded and ruffled Duo's hair. "Baka," he said quietly and then turned and went up the staircase, the gargoyle leaping back into its place.

Duo stood there for a moment, smiling. It was nice to have his partner here with him, even if it was odd… sighing he spun and dashed down the hall, knowing he would be late otherwise. Man he really didn't like school…

Racing around corners he finally saw the Entrance Hall coming into view, putting on a burst of sped he bolted out and immediately plowed into a very startled Harry Potter. Luckily Harry had seen Duo at the last second and had time to plant his feet, both boys grabbing ahold of each other in an attempt to stay upright.

"Whoa, shit dude, sorry didn't see you there," Duo said, gaining his balance and stepping back from Harry with a sheepish smile.

Harry, ever the foot-in-mouth type, immediately returned with. "I _knew_ that was you, Ron is gonna' be so surprised." Duo raised an eyebrow, prompting the other to explain. "Oh… at breakfast he kinda'… well… thought you were a girl…" He said with a little blush, embarrassed for his friend.

Duo laughed brushing himself off as he bent and picked up Harry's dropped bag. "It's okay, it happens more than you'd think, guess I'm just too pretty for my own good," Duo said winking and handing the boy his pack. "Where ya' heading?"

"Oh, um, Herbology," Harry said, a bit taken aback. Duo was a lot different than most, he supposed it was the fact he was from another culture. Hermione would probably have a field day with that.

"Me too, c'mon I'll escort you," Duo said grabbing the boy's arm and pulling him along. "We need to hurry though, don't want you late for your first class, ne?"

"Oh right," Harry said, both running out of the building and toward the greenhouses.

* * *

><p>Duo sighed, attempting to disappear in his little corner of the greenhouse.<p>

Sprout had been very calm when she ordered him here and told him not to move under any circumstances. She knew he would have to if a plant attacked butt she'd made sure that the class he watched was in one of the tamer greenhouses. Duo had agreed and leaned against the wall, trying to ignore the stress he attracted. Man he hated out in the open jobs, what he wouldn't give to be hidden somewhere…

"C'mon mate, your just pulling my leg," Ron huffed, glancing back over at Duo. "That has to be a girl."

"I'm telling you Ron, that's Duo. I already talked to him on the way here, he's not a girl," Harry said, exasperated at his friend. They'd been going back and forth like this since he'd run in with Duo slouching in behind him. Before Harry could show Ron that it was indeed Duo Sprout had swept down and dragged the boy off and left him in the corner he now haunted, looking put out.

"I wonder why Professor Sprout made him stand over there? You think they had a row?" Hermione wondered, also throwing glances at Duo and Sprout, who was catching up with some other students a few tables away.

"Now class, please pay attention," Sprout called out, addressing the students. "Today we're going to harvest pus from bubotubers…" She said briskly, demonstrating what to do to a crowd of grossed out students.

Duo had covered his mouth to keep from laughing the kids' faces were _priceless_. The trio he was supposed to watch closest (because apparently trouble followed the three like a shadow) were also making faces at the idea of popping the plants to collect puss.

By the end of the period Sprout was happily gathering up all the puss the students had collecting, saying that Madame Pomphrey would be very happy to have it. Duo just yawned, stretching his arms and standing up off the wall, he would be glad to move on, watching children flinch will popping weird plants had gotten old relatively quick. He was looking forward to a nice classroom where he could sit and probably sneak a nap in.

Harry and his friends held back while the class emptied then approached the silent guard. Duo smiled, giving them a little wave which sent Ron blushing.

"Heya' kiddies, have fun popping pimples?" Duo asked good-naturedly, his rich baritone making Ron pause for a moment.

"Duo?" Hermione ventured, knowing Ron would just shove his foot in his mouth and embarrass himself if she let him talk first. "Why aren't you in your uniform?"

Duo flashed the girl a sheepish smile, holding the door open for them. "That, my dear, is because I am not a morning person," he said with a wink, flipping his long chestnut hair behind him. "'Sides I don't have to wear it constantly on an assignment as long as this one."

"Blimey mate, you're prettier than some of the _girls_ here!" Ron finally gasped out, finding his voice just in time to put his foot in his mouth. Harry just shook his head, his friend _really_ needed to think first before he talked.

Duo chuckled and fluttered his lashes at the boy. "Why I do declare, are you flirting with my Mr. Weasley?" he asked in a fake southern drawl, raising an eyebrow at the now blushing boy.

"I-no-I mean-" Ron stuttered, too caught off-guard to respond. Duo laughed, pulling the boy through the doors.

"I'm only pickin' on you kid, your too young for me anyway," Duo said, laughing as he joined the group, walking with them to the next class.

"How old are you Mr. Maxwell?" Hermione asked, stepping between Ron and Duo.

"Hmm, well if I had to guess I'd say about fifteen or so," Duo said, tapping his chin with a thoughtful look.

"That means you're only a year older than us," Harry said, not too surprised since Duo didn't really _look_ much older than them.

"Wait, you're not sure how old you are?" Hermione asked.

"Not exactly," Duo said with a shrug as they approached Hagrid's hut. "It's complicated."

Their conversation was cut short as Hagrid caught sight of them and called out happily. "'Ello there your four," he called happily.

Duo smiled back happily and went ahead of the others to investigate what Hagrid had in store for them. "Hey, what're they doing for your first class?" he asked, eyeing the crates near Hagrid.

* * *

><p><strong>TBC<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Notes:<strong>

**[1]** I know, I know but I have to be honest, when I first saw Duo all I could think was 'wow that girl has long, pretty hair.' Unfortunately, he has a small build and long hair, that's all it takes for people to make the mistake…

**[2]** I can't believe I forgot about the house elves. *bows head in shame*

* * *

><p><strong>AN<strong>: I know, lots of exposition and not as funny. My bad but I had to get some plot out of the way. It's longer than my last one (about double) but a bit shorter than I wanted, decided to cut it since this is a good spot and it's already pretty late. Hope you all liked it!

Okay, I'm working on the next part but I can't make any deadlines since I'm working on taking civil service tests, job hunting, and volunteering at the family business. Hopefully it'll been done in August. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me!


	9. Chapter 9

**Ripple Effect**

* * *

><p><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> I do not own _Harry Potter_ or _Gundam Wing_.

**Warnings:** OOCness, a bit AU, language, slash, and Duo. :3

AN: Sorry it's a bit late. More exposition but I promise I'll make it fun, plus plot progression is always good!

**Key:**

"[Someone speaking Japanese.]"

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 9<strong>

* * *

><p>Duo was trying really, <em>really<em> hard not to laugh. He really was… But, I mean come on… these kids were _hilarious_.

Sitting on the low wall surrounding Hagrid's garden, Duo watched the class. At Duo's feet, also quietly enjoying the show, was Fang Hagrid's black boarhound. Duo suppressed his giggles, feeling sorry for the kids as he rubbed his leg against the giant dog's back. "Your owner is a bit too enthusiastic Fang," Duo commented, watching Hagrid attempt to pacify the students who were all very reluctant to go near the creatures Hagrid had in the crates waiting for them.

The creatures, announced to be Blast-Ended Skrewts by a too happy Hagrid, The Skrewts were six inches long, Hagrid had explained they had all just been hatched. Duo could only explain them as pale, deformed lobsters with legs in odd places. Every once in a while one of them would spark and shoot forward. **[1]**

The students, of course, were all revolted and shuffling away from the crates. The rotten fish smell didn't really encourage any of them either. Duo had to stifle more giggles, the kids were so _girly_, even the boys were leery of approaching the crates.

Hagrid had been waiting for the Slytherins, apparently the classes mixed houses something Duo had missed in the Herbology class, but now that they had arrived he was clearing his throat. "Ehm, t'e class will be raisin' these Blast-Ended Skrewts as a project," he explained, gesturing toward the crates.

"What are these things for?" a slightly familiar voice said loudly, earning most of the students attention. Duo scanned and saw the speaker to be the blonde kid, _Malfoy_ his memory supplied, standing with his arms crossed and staring at the crates with disdain. Duo sent he kid a little wave form the fence, blinking in confusion when that earned him a blush and a tiny wave back.

'_Oh,'_ Duo thought, _'kid doesn't recognize me either… gotta' invest in a name tag or something…'_ He watched Hagrid flounder, telling them all they were doing today was feeding them but he didn't know what since this was his first time owning them.

Duo felt bad for Hagrid, none of the kids stepping up to handle the random nasties to feed the things. He noticed Hagrid send a look his way and smiled, what the hell? He'd done worse as a Gundam Pilot. Hopping off the fence he meandered his way through the kids, most moving away from him with whispers and little blushes. Looking down into the crate Duo raised an eyebrow, he had no idea what some of it was but he was pretty sure that over there was frog livers. Humming the boy casually grabbed a handful and then moved to the crates, trying to get the Skrewts to eat whatever he was holding.

"Come and get it cuties," he said gently, holding it to what he was pretty sure was the front of one of the things. Hagrid was beaming behind him as the others slowly copied him, trying to get the Skrewts to eat something.

"Thanks," someone said to Duo's right. Glancing he saw a grossed out Harry trying to feed the Skrewts.

"Eh, I've done worse, these litel buggers aren't' so bad…" Duo replied, he barely resisted a flinch when one of the students cursed and jerked out a burnt hand. "Well, not _all_ bad…" he amended, dropping his pile of gross and going over to tend to the blushing kid.

The trio watched him calm the kid down and inspect his hand, pulling out a small first aid kit from the pack he had on his side. "…He's right, these guys could be worse…" Ron supplied hesitantly, being extra careful to stay away from the 'blasting end' of the Skrewts.

"What are those?" one student asked Hagrid, pointing to one of the Skrewts.

"Ah, t'at's a sting, some o' 'em have t'em, I thin' those 're the males," he said happily, glad the class was finally getting underway. "T'e females have suckers, prob'ly to suck blood."

"Awesome pets these are, they can burn, sting, and suck your blood," Draco drawled sarcastically as he also tried to tempt them, though he'd donned gloves.

Hermione puffed up, a retort ready when she was interrupted by Duo rejoining the group with a new handful of 'food.' "Ah that just makes them cooler, who wants a safe little pet?" he remarked with a smile, poking one with his handful and quickly pulling back to avoid being burned as it took off. "Make great guard dogs, though definitely an outside pet."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "That is a very… charitable way to view them," he remarked, lip curling in disgust.

"Oh hush Malfoy, everything has a use. Dragon's blood is very useful but you don't see people keeping them around," Hermione chastised, gingerly feeding a skrewt.

"You kidding? A pet dragon sounds _awesome_," Duo said with a raised eyebrow, barely managing to dodge another mini explosion.

Harry and Hermione shared a look while Hagrid beamed at the boy. The rest of the class passed with muttered curses and more burnt fingers.

"Look on the bright side," Duo said lightly as he walked with the class back to the castle. "They're fairly small."

Draco snorted from behind the brunette. "I fail to see how that is a good thing Mr. Maxwell," he said with a raised brow. He still couldn't believe he'd actually _fed_ such disgusting creatures.

Duo smirked over his shoulder. "Would you rather a six inch one or a six foot one?" he said, raising a brow himself. The class around them shivered in horror, imagining giant versions of the creatures they'd just left behind. "That's what I thought," he sing-songed, pulling open the doors and holding it open for the crowd of students. Duo followed the group toward the Great Hall, sinking into an easy easing of his main charges.

"Duo."

It was impossible for the trio to miss the way Duo's face lit up as he whipped around mid-sentence to immediately trot over to Heero. The three lingered, observing the two agents, unaware of cool gray eyes also joining the scrutiny of the pair.

"Hee-chan you all debriefed now?" Duo asked cheerily, practically bouncing over to his partner.

"Hai," Heero said, eyes flickering to their observers. "[Are your morning classes over now?]" he asked in his native tongue, eyes locking back on Duo's face.

Duo hesitated for a moment before realizing why Heero had switched to Japanese. "[Yes, we're heading to lunch now, something wrong?]"

Heero shook his head, hiding his smirk at the frustrated looks on their would-be eavesdroppers. "[No, we have an audience,]" he said simply.

Duo laughed, grabbing the other man's hand. "[C'mon, I'll show you where I'm staying so I can change and then we can come back and grab lunch.]" He said, tugging Heero away.

* * *

><p>After watching Duo drag the new man away the students dispersed into the Great Hall, grumbling to themselves. Hermione huffed as they sat down at their table. "They switched languages on us, they must be hiding something," she said as she glared at the food in front of her like it was the lunches' fault she didn't know the language they'd spoken.<p>

"Or they value their privacy," Ron supplied as he started putting food on his plate. "Can't blame them, did you see how many of us stopped to listen in?"

Harry nodded, though he was wishing he had known the language as well. He had noticed the way the new man had glanced at them and the look had made him shiver. It had been so cold and calculating. "Still I wonder what they were saying."

"I'm going to have to look up a translator spell for us…" Hermione said, trailing off into quiet muttering about what books and subjects to look in to find the spell.

"There she goes again, we really are a bad influence on her," Ron remarked as they watched Hermione get lost in thought.

* * *

><p><strong>TBC<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Note:<strong>

**[1]** Pretty much straight out of the book. *hugs book* I love finally having my reference material on-hand.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> I know, I know, it's really late. Sorry but life has been busy, had a job interview and I'm so nervous that I can't sleep so I got to finally finish this. Yay for insomnia! I know it's a bit short but I wanted to go ahead and get this out before I get wrapped up in possible job training and all. :sighs as she drags herself to bed:

* * *

><p><strong>Deadline:<strong> No deadline here, I'm aiming for the end of September but if I get this job it will be later. I'll let you now on my profile if it will be late.


	10. Chapter 10

**Ripple Effect**

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Harry Potter or Gundam Wing.

**Warnings**: my version of Duo (violent and potty mouthed) and eventual slash.

**AN**: This one came slow but thanks to everyone who hung in there with me, I know I'm slow but I refuse to give you crap. Thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites. I can't help but smile when I check my inbox and see the flood of mail from . :3

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 10<strong>

* * *

><p>Harry and Ron hadn't actually expected Hermione to be serious about researching a translator spell but she was apparently serious as she proceeded to stuff food in her mouth so fast both boys stopped to stare at her. Before either could think of anything to say she was standing and declaring she was going to the library and rushing away.<p>

"…We really are a bad influence Harry," Ron muttered in awe. Turning to Harry he gave him a worried look. "You think we should really try to eavesdrop on them?"

Harry paused, considering Ron's question. It wasn't very nice, for all they knew the two agents had just been catching up or discussing personal matters, nothing to do with them or the school. Harry went to answer his friend but was cut off again by the Great Hall's door swinging open again. _'I'm starting to think this is going to become a thing,'_ Harry sighed, glancing up to see the subjects of their conversation walk in. Duo gave him a jaunty wave, now in his uniform with braided hair. Heero was at his side, eye once again scanning the room before focusing on Duo again as the braided boy spoke to him.

"I don't know," Harry finally confessed to Ron. "I mean, we really don't know them and for all we know they're plotting but Duo seems nice… then again people aren't always what they seem…" Harry trailed off, his thoughts going to his godfather who they had saved the previous year. The man had been framed for murder and the real killer had been Ron's pet rat which had been a rather nasty surprise for the red head.

* * *

><p>"So how exactly can you be here?" Duo asked, turning his head a little to see Heero over his shoulder before Heero swatted him. Duo pouted, once back at the rooms he's changed and he had asked Heero to help him brush out the tangled mess his hair had turned into.<p>

Heero shrugged dismissively. "I'm a squib," he said as if it was obvious. **[1]**

"Okay… let's just assume this is all new to me, what's a squib?" Duo asked with a raised eyebrow.

Heero resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "A squib is a person with no magic who is involved in the magical world," he explained, expertly tying of Duo's braid before tossing it over his shoulder for inspection.

Duo ran his hands over his braid absently as he answered. "So basically, a normal person? What a boring explanation…"

Heero did roll his eyes this time as he tossed Duo his uniform jacket. "Hn."

Duo waved him off, pulling on his jacket as he headed for the door, pausing to hold it open for Heero. "I know, I know. The simplest explanation and all that jazz…" he muttered mostly to himself.

* * *

><p>Harry sighed as they approached the trapdoor to Divination. The class wouldn't be so bad if the professor didn't constantly predict his untimely demise. Understanding his hesitation Ron just patted his shoulder and climbed up first. Harry paused for a bit longer, still staring dejectedly at the ladder.<p>

"She doesn't like you either eh?" Duo asked, suddenly standing next to Harry.

"Ah!" Harry squeaked, almost falling over as he jumped away from him.

Duo chuckled, holding up his hands in a non-threatening way. "Sorry, didn't mean to sneak up on you," he said, smiling apologetically. A snort came from behind them and Harry noticed the new guy had also joined them.

"Unsurprising, let's move," Heero said in his quiet monotone. Harry blinked, realizing this was the first time he'd heard the man speak English.

Duo gave Heero an apologetic look as well. "Um, actually… I'm not allowed up there so you're on your own Hee-chan."

Harry blinked, wondering if 'Hee-chan' was the man's name or if that was another nickname Duo had come up with. The braided man seemed to like calling people butchered version of their names as nicknames.

"Welp, see you guys after class," Duo said with a jaunty wave. Turning Duo started away before pausing and turning back. "Oh, and Heero, don't shoot anybody, 'kay?"

"Hn," Heero responded, climbing the ladder into the classroom. Harry hesitated a moment, staring between the two retreating people before following Heero up the ladder.

Heero folded his arms as he leaned back against the back wall of the classroom. Trust Duo to already be banned from certain classes. The idiot really needed to learn to just be quiet and observe sometimes.

"Heero is like the night to Duo's day," Ron mumbled, watching the man as they sat at their customary table – the one farthest from the front.

Harry tossed a look back. "Yeah, kind of makes you wonder how two opposites like them got to be friends," he confessed having already noticed the difference himself.

Duo sneezed. Stopping he rubbed his nose, taking a napkin from the angry looking librarian. "Dumb drafty castle…"

Harry sighed as their teacher finally 'appeared.' He wasn't really looking forward to another year of death omens and predictions.

Heero rolled his eyes as some students jumped and a few actually screamed at the teacher's sudden appearance. He had spotted the woman the minute he had entered the room, apparently her students were not very observant. She wasn't through though, as she meandered over to him, her large spectacles glittering in the dim lighting.

"And who do we have here?" she asked in a wispy voice.

Heero stood up from his lean and gave her a small bow. "Heero Yuy, Preventer agent on security detail," he answered succinctly, watching the teacher's face.

"Oh, another one… just don't interfere with my lesson young man," Trelawny replied in a suddenly normal voice, sticking her nose in the air as she walked away from him.

"Whoa, I take it Duo left a really poor impression with our professor. Wonder what he did?" Ron whispered to Harry as they watched Trelawny return to the class.

"Guess so…" Harry muttered back, not really feeling any pity for the woman as her attention focused on her favorite distraction: predicting Harry's imminent death.

TBC…

Notes:

**[1]** I'm kinda' surprised no one guessed this… I tossed this idea around with my fiancé and he think Heero is epic enough to take down a gundam by hand so he doesn't need magic. . I go to agree.

**AN:** Okay, took forever and not the longest chapter ever, but I wanted to give you something to let you know I'm still around. No deadlines right now because I'm busy with work and I'm now getting married at the end of March so yeah… not a lot of free time… I'm still working but of course it'll be slow. Reviews are welcome and loved!


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